Transition to GST will have some pains: Panagariya

As the government sets the deadline of Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation on July 1, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Tuesday said the transition to the new indirect tax regime will take at least one year and it will also have initial pains.

“Transition to GST will take at least one year and it will have some growing pains,” Panagariya said here. He said there will be challenges for both, the government and industry during the transition period.

More than 11 indirect taxes are expected to be merged into GST, which includes state VAT, octroi and other local levies.

Though large enterprises have been gearing up to comply with GST, there are a lot of teething problems for small and medium enterprises. It is still not clear how the transition will impact their businesses.