Letter to BS: Modi govt must share data on Goods and Services Tax

For reasons best known to itself, the government of India has not thought it fit to release data on GST billed and GST sought credit for on the 20th of each month. The data is available with it, thanks to technology. If GST's aim is to prevent cascading of duty and also bring all commerce into the tax stream, surely the net figure is important to assess receipts. Conceptually, the only goal is to collect and account for tax at that point when the recipient of goods or service is the last link in the chain and so fiddling about with rates in the interim achieve really no understandable and rational purpose.

The compounding scheme works to the government's advantage, since whatever inputs that are liable to GST and paid by such an entity crystallses to the state as soon as goods are sold or services rendered. The government would do well to try and enthuse recipients of such supply, and encourage suppliers to enter the non-compounding system. The supplier gains by being able to take credit for inputs and the buyer, the GST set-off on receipt of supply. The government allowing entities to file quarterly makes for easier filing of returns but during the interim period, all those within the system must be allowed to take and utilise credit for receipts. Mismatch if any can be easily verifed at the end of each quarter. Audit of the system then, ought to be the name of the game. Since all entities have individual GST numbers, perhaps an option could be given for both supplier and receiver to file initially GST related details as they have it, of their sources as well as recipients, and new ones could be added when needed. 

Asit Desai, Mumbai

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