GST workshop discusses modalities
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 15
Alongwith the rest of the country, Nagaland state is also racing against time setting things to order for a smooth transition to the “One Nation, One Tax” Goods & Services Tax (GST) regime, which is slated to take effect from July 1.
The department of Taxes, Nagaland on June 15 conducted a workshop for entrepreneurs, who have been roped in by the government to function as GST Suvidha Providers or facilitators at the grassroots. It was conducted at the office of the Commissioner of Taxes, Dimapur.
The GST Suvidha Providers will lend support to the implementation of the new tax regime by operating Common Service Centres (CSC) or digital kiosks in various locations across the districts. The CSCs besides promoting GST and conducting awareness programmes will also assist traders to familiarise with the new tax law that seeks to introduce uniform tax rates across the country encompassing manufacturing, finished goods and services.
Nepal Chandra Sen, Northeast Incharge, CSC-SPV, Delhi was on hand at the workshop guiding the entrepreneurs on the workings, functions and the perceived benefits GST would have on tax payers as well as traders.
Terming GST as a “Simpler tax regime,” Sen said that it has been envisioned to reduce “multiplicity of taxes” and mitigating the “cascading effect” of multiple taxation as goods travel from one place to the other.
With the GST in place, goods will be taxed at the place of origin, which would practically put a stop to traders and transporters having to pay tax to multiple authorities across states.
Sen, while stating that GST would also bode well for export of goods, added that ultimately the consumers will benefit as prices of goods and services will reduce “due to the elimination of the cascading effect” of multiple taxation, which currently is the norm.
As for the functions of the CSCs, Sen said that its primary job will be advocacy, training and capacity building of stakeholders. The CSCs will also assist in registration of traders, enabling filing of returns and providing support for complying with GST norms and requirements.
Additional Commissioner of Taxes, Wochamo Odyuo said that the CSCs will be equipped with a dedicated computer programme linked to the main GST portal that will enable swift registration of ground inputs.
Earlier, Commissioner of Taxes, Asangba Chuba urged the entrepreneurs tasked with the job to get acquainted with the concept of taxation inorder for them to provide their services as facilitators of GST. “We expect you to be ambassadors of GST… ask if you have any doubts because that is the only way we’ll learn.”
According to the Commissioner, with GST the cost of doing business would go down, which would benefit traders as they will not have the need for maintaining several tax records for filing returns for different tax regimes at the cost of employing expertise.
