English Quiz for Upcoming Bank Exams 2017 – Set 4

The Rajya Sabha is set to take a
vital step to create a pan-Indian market for goods and services. It will clear
the Bill to amend the Constitution that empowers states to tax services and the
Centre to tax goods up to the retail stage. This will also enable the setting
up of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council with a wide mandate. The
government should be commended for reaching out to the Opposition and forging a
consensus on GST in the Upper House where it lacks the numbers. The task has
been arduous. But it has shown flexibility on contentious issues. The new tax
system can be rolled out in April next year if the Centre and the states firm
up the tax rates and transact the legal changes needed to make the shift.
First, the Constitution Amendment Bill has to be ratified by at least half the
states. As India will have a dual GST — central GST and state GST — Parliament
and state legislatures have to enact the law on GST too. The empowered
committee (EC) will work out the new tax design. The goal should be to have a
flawless GST that makes production efficient, lowers retail prices and makes
our exports competitive. A combined rate of about 18% makes sense as it would
be less than half the current incidence of cascading indirect taxes on goods.
Exemptions should be minimal. Convergence to a lower rate has been the rule in
indirect taxes broadly since 1998. Unfortunately, there have been instances of
the government breaking the rule by bestowing concessional duties or exemptions
to certain sectors. The spirit of simplification, the guiding path of indirect
tax reform, must be retained. Only then can ‘Make in India by making one India’
become a reality. GST has been widely debated, but the common man does not know
that India is close to signing a free-trade agreement with itself. Many
industrialists are in the dark about the nature of the new tax and its
benefits. This should change. The government must launch a campaign to educate
people, and also the industry that would have to deal with two separate agencies
for tax collection.

Former EC chairman engaged with
India Inc ahead of the value added tax (VAT). The panel came out with a lucid
primer on GST, a brainchild of the UPA. His successor continued with the good
work. Malaysia, for example, faced glitches when it rolled out GST on April 1,
2015, which is well documented. There were reportedly complaints about
retailers mischarging customers, errors in tax invoices, confusion over the tax
treatment of some goods and services, leading to anti-GST street protests.
Inconsistencies were deliberated among friends, colleagues and on social media.
In many cases, these were directly reported to the respective authorities that
found itself facing public complaints. India’s tax administration simply can’t
cope if it’s besieged with consumer
complaints. Confusion over tax treatment of goods and services cannot be ruled
out, if there is haggling over items to be exempted
or to retain inefficient taxes. So, public attention to detail will matter when
GST is enforced. A ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ is a good way to demystify GST. The success of GST would also hinge on the
robustness of the IT infrastructure. The good news is the GST Network (GSTN), a
special purpose vehicle set up to provide the IT infrastructure systems and
services to the administration and the taxpayers, is ready with key functions
such as registration, returns and payment. The EC must quickly approve the GST
design to enable the service provider to implement the system. The central and
the state tax administration must be familiarised with the IT infrastructure.
They should be up-to-date with the GST Act — which will replace the Central
Excise Act, Service Tax Law and State VAT Act — that will spell out the tax
rates, thresholds, the way to register, file returns and make payments. All
this requires intensive training.

A model GST law is already in the
public domain. However, it is riddled with flaws that will jack up compliance
costs. The EC should fix the flaws and finalise the law, holding extensive
consultations with industry. Malaysia’s experience showed larger and better
organised businesses managed a smooth transition to GST. Smaller and less
organised businesses, besides lacking the financial resources to access
professional help, faced particular problems of their own. Some small
business owners transferred operations to newly incorporated entities ahead of
the deadline for GST registration. Most of this, experts said, was done in fear
that patchy bookkeeping, common with
businesses operating on a cash basis, could turn up problems during GST
registration or random audits. Many traders in India are known to dodge taxes. Pressure from them had
forced former finance minister to defer VAT in 2003. His successor introduced
the new levy in 2005. It worked well and boosted revenues for states. An
integrated countrywide market for goods and services is a reform overdue now to
raise India’s tax collections far above the measly 16% of GDP.