Second anniversary of GST to be celebrated on July 1

The second anniversary of Good & Services Tax (GST), launched on July 1, 2017 with 'one nation, one tax' aim, will be celebrated on Monday.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur will be the chief guest, said an official statement, adding that partners from trade and industry will also join the occasion.

Subhash C Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Secretaries of the Ministry of Finance, PK Das, Chairman CBIC, Members of CBIC, and senior officers of various Ministries of Government of India will also attend the event.

"Senior functionaries of the apex chambers of commerce, trade and industry will also be present in large numbers. Similar functions will be held across the country in all States and Union Territories," said the statement.

GST was a new experience of subsuming 17 different types of taxes. Pre - GST, trade, and industry had to undergo compliances under Central Excise, Service Tax and VAT and doing business in multiple states involved adhering to different VAT laws, compliance through different portals and answering to different authorities.

"More and more businesses moving in the formal economy is evident from the significant increase in the GST taxpayer base. Moving to the formal economy has brought in more visibility and hence more opportunities for trade and industry," said the statement.

According to the official statement, major changes in the tax rates of various items whereby 28 per cent items pulled to 18 per cent, 18 per cent items pulled to 12 per cent and 12 per cent items pulled to five per cent.

The introduction of GST is a game changer for the Indian economy as it has replaced multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology-driven tax regime.

It has integrated India into a single, common market by breaking barriers to inter-State trade and commerce. By eliminating cascading of taxes and reducing transaction costs, it will enhance ease of doing business and provide an impetus to 'Make in India' campaign.