ITANAGAR:
The Arunachal Pradesh Goods and
Services Tax Bill 2017 will be placed in the state assembly on Friday
for ratification, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Thursday. This will
be first session of the legislative assembly in the new building in
Itanagar.
The bill was recently approved by the cabinet.
Meanwhile, an awareness programme on Goods and Services Tax (GST) was
organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Department of Tax and Excise in
association with central excise and service tax, North Eastern, Shillong
zone.
The programme, which was conducted a day ahead of the special assembly
session called to pass the GST legislation was also attended by BJP
legislators, deputy commissioners and officials from the Tax and Excise
Department.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Pema hoped that apprehensions
in the minds of people will be allayed once the tax legislation starts
to show its benefits.
’Once the GST is implemented, all entry gates erected in the name of
collecting various taxes will be abolished, leading to check in revenue
leakages’, he said.
Taking note of the vast geographical area of the state, the Chief
Minister informed that five regional offices will be set up for GST
implementation. He also announced that training will be imparted to
officials in handling matters of GST at all district levels.
To address the gap in IT infrastructure for successful implementation of
the GST, he informed that the matter has been taken up with the IT
Ministry and was discussed in the NITI Aayog meeting held recently in
New Delhi.
He also informed that the state cabinet will soon discuss on the process
to get GST registration, which will check dilution of trading license
by non-APST traders who had been evading filing of tax returns and
non-payment of income tax.
Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin spoke on the need to demystify the
thought and philosophy of GST to get the new tax regime into the minds
of those who are not into tax culture.
She said the new taxation will provide equal level playing field for all
- where consumers will not get distorted price, where there will be no
fear of inflation and market will be corrected.
Earlier Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, North Eastern region, S K
Panda spoke on the GST law that has been simplified to override the
earlier complex taxation structure.
He said that ’the GST is simple and a law that is meant for the common masses’.
12 May 2017, 06:49 AM