Industry should prepare itself for Goods and Service Tax: CII

Experts say implementation of GST would bring a paradigm shift in operation of businesses and tax laws in country

“GST will harmonise and simplify existing taxation system and the economy will take an upward swing with GDP expected to get a boost of 1.5 % with its implementation”, informed Rajiv Aggarwal, Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council during the preparatory workshop on Goods and Service Tax, organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Himachal Pradesh State Council at CII NR Headquarters, here today.

“Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a significant taxation reform in Indian Taxation system and would bring a paradigm shift in the operation of businesses and tax laws in our country.  It would remove the cascading effect and save industry of double taxation. It is expected to also lower down the input costs of industry by at least 25-30 % which would make businesses more viable in India. The ease of doing business would also be enhanced since it would replace various multiple taxes applicable presently”, added CII HP Chairman.



“CII calls for its early implementation and consensus building across states. But, CII understands that even after the amendment of the Constitution of India, an immense amount of work will be required for the formulation of a comprehensive GST law. It is also important for the Government to give enough breathing time to the industry to prepare itself and modify the business models to adapt to the new law. It is expected to be implemented in 2016. GST will definitely provide a fillip to the industry by making the entire country a single market. This will result in an increase in trade and commerce meaning greater revenues for the businesses, as also the exchequer”, he added. 

“There has been lot of opposition by some States, and concessions will be granted to the States to cajole them into agreeing for the implementation of the GST regime. The proposed additional 1% levy, appears to be a compromise between the Centre and the States, and a possibility of further concessions being doled out to States cannot be ruled out”, further added Agagrwal.



"There is at present no preparation on the part of the industry. The main objective of today’s workshop was to sensitize industry members about the technical knowhow of GST and its implication on day to day business. It is one of the top priorities of CII to sensitize and make the industry aware about GST so that it can adopt it easily. There would be more and more such sessions to make the industry conscious about its intricacies”, said a CII Release.