Summary:
We still have more ground to cover for better results. Indore: The government is mulling plans to bring petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) in the ongoing financial year, senior officials and leading industry players said.Inclusion of petroleum products under GST has become the talk of the town since the sudden spike in prices to record high levels tumbled the economy.On the occasion of first anniversary of GST, several senior officials, leading industry chambers and tax practitioners said they expect the GST council taking forward the proposal of including petroleum products in GST though the views of the state is yet to be made clear.Central excise commissioner Neerav Malik said, “GST aided growth of economy by removing cascading tax effect and increasing the tax base. Speakers said the compliance under GST has increased significantly cutting down on tax evasion.District commissioner Raghvendra Singh said, “Under GST, direct tax collection has gone up, and it is likely to go up further in coming time.”Officials said now in GST the focus is on hassle free return filing for which a new form is being designed and technical glitches are also being removed on priority.Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan addressing the gathering said, in GST businessmen are paying proper tax and not hiding through donations, which were seen earlier. We can see inclusion of petroleum products under GST.”Speaking on e-way bill experts said the transit time has reduced to five from 15 days, while transition has become smooth after the implementation of e-way bills.State commercial tax department commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma said, “GST eased the process of doing business and unlike any other Act, it is the one in which improvement and changes are a regular process.”Additional chief secretary Manoj Shrivastava said one of the biggest apprehensions with the roll out of GST was higher inflation and tax theft, but, proper implementation rather aided revenue growth.According to the state commercial tax department, dealers base increased to 3, 98,467 under GST as against 2, 90,457 under VAT..