Cheers and Tears of GST....

Centre to roll out GST on July 1

During the Ninth meeting of the GST Council, a consensus was reached and the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been deferred to 01-July-2017 from the proposed 01-April-2017. The Centre and the States, on Monday, reached a consensus on most of the controversial issues, including dual control and taxation in the high-seas, making way for the GST to be rolled out in the country

Tax payers will be split for Audit Asper agreement, the States will have the power to assess and administer 90 per cent of the tax payers with less than Rs. 1.5 Crores annual turnover, while the remaining (10 per cent) would be controlled by the Centre.

Intelligence based enforcement power will be with both the Centre and States. For tax-payers with more than Rs. 1.5 Crore turnover, the States and the Centre will control and administer them in a 50:50 ratio.Each assessee will be assessed by only one authority. 

The States would also have the powers to levy tax on economic activity within 12 nautical mlles of the territorial waters of India, even though such rights constitutionally vests with the Centre. The power of audit of tax-payers and taxation in the high-seas were holding up the consensus on GST. 

The power to levy and collect Integrated-GST (I-GST), a tax on inter-state movement of goods and services, will lie with the Centre, but by special provisions in the law, the states will also be cross-empowered.

The Council will now meet on 18-Feb-2017 to approve the drafts of the I-GST law and other supporting legislations, needed for subsuming Central and State levies like Excise Duty and Service Tax and VAT.

West Bengal's Amit Mitra, said he dissented at the meeting, as his State government wanted 100 per cent of the tax payers up to Rs. 1.5 Crore turnover to be with the States.

This is the development which bring cheers to the staff of the State and their mentors and tears to the staff of the CBEC and little remorse to the mentors, as they are having a few months left of their service and are satisfied, as they have no role to play, citing it as a political decision.

The glorious Department in the hands of defensive heads, will be shattered in front of their eyes within their tenure. They feel contended, as they have been given invitee positions in the GST Council, which is supreme in GST related matters.

In CBEC, the staff of Customs may not be affected, but the staff of Central Excise and Service Tax will loose a lot, both career-wise as well as position-wise. Demonetization regained the position of the Income Tax Department as well as Enforcement Directorate. The staff of Service Tax, who has taken maximum pain, worked in adversity and shaped the Department from three services to innumerable services (except services in the Negative List) from Zero to Rs. 1.87 Lakh Crores (approx.) may be the biggest losers...

Expecting too much will lead to frustration. Every stakeholder is trying their best to safeguard their own interests, playing the blame game will not yield any results, except developing enmity among ourselves.

The Steering Committee, comprising of all the Associations has already authorized the Conveners to take appropriate steps for safeguarding the position and dignity of our Cadre in the ensuing GST. Shortly, a meeting is planned at New Delhi to chalk out the future course of action in this regard.

Part 2

Cadre is being guided and mis-guided by individuals having vested interests, some are genuine and are putting in their best to drag others in the name of litigation. CESA, Mumbai is not competent to certify the merit of their case but certainly have strong objections about their timings. With respect to promotions, we have patiently waited a lot and allowed the embers of hope to be kindled into a flame, but when the heat starts increasing, you start searching for the phone number of the fire brigade, so as to douse the fire. 

Laziness always brings suffering and mis-fortune. CESA, Mumbai raised all these issues since long & at that time the necessary attention was not given to these issues. Getting an order from CAT at the local level will not have an all-India impact. It will only open the chain of judiciary process, which will prolong the issue, as far as the masses are concerned (Exception where impact of an individual is concerned). Within no time, we are able to post what the VAT employee demands are, in the forthcoming GST, their grade, positions & designations. But we ourselves drag each other down within the Zone & within the Department. We may as well forget about the major issues, like parity with Examiner/ Appraiser and Income Tax as well as stagnation.

Good news is expected - holding of the DPC may be likely within a short period, as all the Senior Officers in the Board are unable to find any more excuses in view of our persuasion. Let's hope for the best...

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