2017 to be year of fiscal improvement: Minister

2017 will be the year of fiscal improvement in India, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Friday.

Speaking at the "India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit" here, Meghwal said the next big change was the implementation of the Goods and Services (GST) Tax.

He asked people to welcome the GST and added that 165 countries had already implemented it.

"Should India lag behind? I can assure you that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the implementation of the GST won't lead to any inconveniences," he said.

He asked the transporters and the business community to give their inputs on the draft GST rules.

Meghwal said the government was flexible to address all concerns of various stakeholders and added that under the GST regime, there would be no arbitrary taxes.

The minister said the GST would lead to scrapping of most check posts and seamless transition of goods across state borders.

"We have a tendency for resisting change. But we need to change this tendency especially when the change is for the good of the nation.

"We preponed the budget, merged rail budget with the Annual Budget, did away with plan and non-plan distinction. They were all big changes and were resisted. But did anything bad happen?

"This year will be the year of fiscal improvement," the minister said.

He said taxation today had become an issue of evasion rather than payment and this needed to change.

"People today don't talk about paying tax but evading tax. What kind of society have we created? Will India progress with such a society? That is why there is a need to welcome change," he said.

--IANS

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