Experts see good prospects with implementation of GST

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) lays emphasis on sales rather than manufacturing which will favour manufacturers, Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes-Enforcement Vijaykumar M Bhathad said.

During a public seminar on ‘GST in Healthcare, Educational Institutions and Family Economics’ organised by Centre for Health and Development (CHD Group) and Milagres Education Institutions at Milagres Senate Hall in Mangaluru, he said that apprehensions are natural till the public becomes totally aware of GST.

GST was proposed 14-years-ago. The GST will be equally split between the state and the centre (Central GST and State GST). Earlier, levies were based on origin based taxation system whereas GST is based on consumption based taxation. For instance, if an item is purchased in Rajasthan by a resident of Karnataka, the state GST will go to Karnataka.

Various taxes including professional tax, sales tax, betting tax, luxury tax, Value Added Tax and entertainment tax etc were administered by the state government and various states had various tariffs for taxes. Central Excise, Central Sales Tax and Custom Duty were administered by the Central government. Now, most of these taxes are consolidated.

Earlier, the manufacturing sector had to pay taxes on taxes when the goods were transported to outstations. Goods became costlier for consumers as the manufacturing sector had to pay taxes for manufacturing, service and sales.

A number of taxes created a cascading effect resulting in the hike of commodities but now, with the introduction of GST, the tax tariff will be uniform across the country. The manufacturing cost will come down which will also decrease the selling price. The increased purchasing power due to this will contribute to the economic growth, feel experts.

Raghavendra Teertha, a chartered accountant from Bengaluru, felt that a boom in drug manufacturing is expected with the implementation of GST and the costs of medicines would eventually come down. Health sector comprises goods, supply and service. Depending upon the products and the services, the costs may vary.

GST is applicable to outsourced services in the education sector. Electricity and water supply are excluded from GST, he said.

Milagres Institutions correspondent Fr Valerian D’Souza, Rachana Catholic Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Gilbert D’Souza and Centre for Health and Development Founder Dr Edmond Fernandes were present.