Arun Jaitley - The Men behind GST

Memorable speech on launch of GST

Beginning of a brand new journey for India: Arun Jaitley

“There will be a check on inflation, tax avoidance will be difficult, rates will be lower compared to earlier, the country’s GDP will benefit, and the extra resources the states and the Centre will get, that will be used to serve the poor,” Jaitley said in his speech at the special function in Parliament’s Central Hall to roll out the historic tax reform on Friday.
The minister said the single tax will subsume 17 taxes and 23 cesses levied by the states and the Centre. “The old India was economically fragmented. The new India will create one tax, one market and for one nation,” Jaitley said. The new tax, which the government called a “Good and Simple Tax”, will ease the compliance burden.
“Every assessee had to interface with many taxation officers.
Today, he will have to interface with only one return using software,” Jaitley said, explaining the benefits of the new system. He said the highlight of the new framework is that there will be no tax-on-tax and any tax paid on inputs would be available as credit.

                  

“Different rates in different states and crowds of trucks at toll plazas will end and in a way there will be a single flow of goods and services across the country after GST,” the minister said.
Jaitley said the GST Council met 18 times, but there was never any need for voting because all decisions were taken by consensus. He said the Centre and the states pooled their sovereignty, highlighting the context in which the reform has been achieved.
“We have done this at a time when the world is facing slow growth, isolationism and lack of structural reform,” Jaitley said, lauding the efforts of all those involved in the reform.
“We did not need to get even one decision voted on,” he said, adding that the council decided on 24 regulations and tax rates of 1,211 commodities “through discussions”. He said this will benefit the country in a big way.

“It’s a journey where India will awake to limitless possibilities to expand its economic horizons and loftier political visions,” Jaitley said, expressing gratitude to former finance ministers and empowered committee chairmen for their contribution to the evolution of the tax.

Source: economic times