How Goods and services tax plays a major role in Indian Economy?
In this blog, we have discussed about the goods and services tax impacts and roles played by them in the Indian economy.
Chiefly, Goods and service tax is a transformation designed to create an ecosystem where free and fair competition can flourish. The state and Centre in agreement decided to pool in their resource and sovereignty to create this economic consolidation for the common goal of economic prosperity. India’s first federal institution, the GST reforms does several multiple arbitrary tax schemes, making it easier to administer taxes while making revenue collection more efficient.
When state and Centre have independence to charge taxes based on their preferences, the entire system goes unfair and the movement of goods also becomes difficult. The Goods and Services Tax is another such undertaking that is expected to provide the needed stimulant for economic growth in India by transforming the existing base of indirect taxation towards the movement of goods and services.
GST is also expected to eliminate the effect of taxes. India planned to play an important role in the world economy. The hope of GST introduced is high not only within the country, but also within neighbouring countries and developed economies of the world.
Goods and services tax
The introduction of Goods and Services Tax in India is on high. The Constitution Amendment Bill is likely to replace existing multiple indirect taxes. Lok Sabha has already passed this Bill. The current indirect tax system is a major weakness in India’s economic growth and competitiveness. Tax barriers in the form of CST, entry tax and restricted input tax credit have uneven Indian market.
Removal of tax barriers on introduction of uniform GST across the country with seamless transaction, will make India a common market leading to economy of scale in production and efficiency in supply chain. It will expand trade and commerce.
Moreover, GST will have positive impact on organised logistic industry and modernised warehousing. GST provides the ease of doing business in India. Integration of existing multiple taxes into single GST will significantly reduce cost of tax compliance and transaction cost.
Benefits of GST to the Indian Economy
- Removal of indirect taxes such as VAT, Service tax, CST, CAD, SAD, and Excise.
- An easy tax policy compared to current tax structure.
- Removal of cascading effect of taxes i.e. removes taxes on tax.
- Reduction of manufacturing costs will lower burden of taxes on the manufacturing sector. Hence prices of consumer goods will be lesser.
- Moreover, GST will Lower the burden of taxes on the common people i.e. public will spend less money to buy the same products that were costly earlier.
- In essence, increased demand and consumption of goods.
- Increased demand will lead to increase supply. Hence, this will ultimately rise the production of goods.
- Controls the circulation of the black money.
- Boosts the Indian economy in the long run process.
Consequently, these things are possible only if the actual benefit of GST are passed on to the final consumers. There are several other factors such as the seller’s profit margin, which determines the final price of goods. Moreover, GST alone will not determine the final price of goods.
How will GST impact the Indian Economy?
- Tax burden on producers will be reduced and fosters growth through more production. The current taxation structure prevents manufacturers from producing to their optimum capacity and retards growth. However, GST will provide solution to this problem by providing tax credit to the manufacturers.
- There are different tax barriers such as check posts and toll plazas, lead to the wastage of unpreserved items being transported. The taxes will be higher in the case of buffer stock and warehousing costs. A single taxation system will eliminate this roadblock.
- Transparency in the system will helps the customers know exactly how much taxes are being charged and on what base.
- In addition, GST will add government revenues by extending the tax base.
- GST will provide acknowledgment for the taxes paid by producers in terms of goods or services. This is expected to encourage producers to buy raw material from different registered dealers and bring more vendors and suppliers under the view of taxation.
- GST will remove the value- added tax applicable on exports. Hence, great demand for Indian products in foreign markets will increase on account of lower costs of transaction.
What will get costlier according to the GST rule?
The following will costlier as per the GST rule:
- Accommodation in hotels will be 28% GST where the room tariff will be more than Rs.7, 500 per unit per day
- Air-conditioned restaurants serving or not serving liquor will charge GST at the rate of 18%.
- Renting of a motor car will charge GST at the rate of 18%
- Under-construction immovable property being flats, commercial buildings, etc., will attract GST at the rate of 18% after allowing deduction of land value to the extent of one-third of the total amount of immovable property
- Commercial renting of immovable property will be charge GST at the rate of 18%
As per the former Service tax regime, the taxes was 15%, GST on commission or fees paid to facilitating agents or banks will be taxed at 18% at present.
The rate of GST on other goods
The rate of GST is 18% for soaps and 28% on washing detergents.18% GST for movie tickets that cost less than Rs. 100 and 28% GST on tickets costing more than Rs.100 and 28% on commercial and private vehicle and 5% GST on ready-made clothes. The rate on under-construction property booking is 12%.
Some industries and products were excused from paying taxes. They are dairy products, fresh vegetables & fruits, meat products, products of milling industries, and other groceries and necessities. Check posts across the country were stopped to ensure free and fast movement of goods.
Goods kept outside the GST
- Alcohol for human consumption, not for commercial use.
- Petrol and petroleum products (GST will apply at a later date), i.e., petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, motor spirit, natural gas, aviation turbine fuel, etc.
What is GST Return?
GST return is a document that is filed by the experts, who are registered under GST Act. A GST Return includes the details such as:
- Sales made by the registered dealer
- Purchase made by the registered dealer
- GST output on sales of goods and services
- Input Tax Credit or ITC on purchase of goods and services
Scenario before the implementation of GST
Before implementation of GST separate accounts are required to be maintained for excise, VAT, CST and service tax. Apart from accounts like sales, purchases, and stock, the following accounts are separately required to be maintained:
- Excise Payable (for the manufacturer)
- CENVAT Credit (for the manufacturer)
- Output Vat A/c
- Input Vat A/c
- Output Service Tax
- Input Service Tax
- CST A/c for interstate purchases and sales
- Service Tax A/c
Scenario after implementation of GST
Under GST all the above taxes are subsumed into one tax. Thus following accounts are required to maintain in addition to purchases, sales, and stock:
- Input CGST a/c
- Output CGST a/c
- Input SGST a/c
- Output SGST a/c
- Input IGST a/c
- Output IGST a/c
- Electronic Cash Ledger should be maintained on Government GST portal to pay GST.
While the number of accounts to be maintained are more but through accounting and record keeping you will find it easier to maintain the books of accounts and comply with GST provisions.
Thus, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax will be a very notable step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India. By unifying large number of Central and State taxes into a single tax, GST is expected to double taxation and make taxation overall easy for the industries. The most beneficial will be in terms of reduction in the overall tax burden on goods and services for the end customers.
Moreover, introduction of GST will also make Indian products competitive in the domestic and international markets. The GST will be easier to administer because of its transparent character. Once the proposed taxation system is implemented, this greatly promises in terms of sustaining growth for the Indian economy.
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