President Kovind lauds IRS for making GST a 'success'

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday met a group of probationers from the 68th batch of Indian Revenue Service (Custom and Central Excise) and lauded them for making the Goods and Service Tax (GST) a success.

Addressing the probationers, the President said, "In 2017, Government introduced the GST, the most comprehensive tax reform the nation has seen. It was Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) that had the responsibility of making sure that this mega reform was implemented across the nation and the tax assesses were properly educated about the new tax system. It is a matter of satisfaction that the GST regime has been implemented with success ushering in a progressive tax structure that will benefit the economy and honest tax payers," he said.

President Kovind further said that it is the primary duty of the Indian Revenue Service officers to ensure that the country has the tax resources to fund different aspects of national development.

"Taxes have been the building block of governance since ages. In ancient times, rulers and kingdoms were judged by the kind of tax systems they had. A nation's tax structure should be just, efficient, honest and equitable. As administrators it is the primary duty of Indian Revenue Service officers to ensure that our country has the tax resources to fund different aspects of national development - be it building infrastructure in rural and urban areas, schools and hospitals, defence and security and so on," the President said

He also asked the Indian Revenue Service officers to discharge their duty in a way that "encourages honest tax compliance with minimum discomfort to tax payers".