GST impact on Diwali
Monday - October 23, 2017 1:10 pm ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
GST impact on Diwali
The newly introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced in the country to bring in transparency and economic reforms may be a very potent tool for development as a uniform tax regime stabilises prices and removes discrepancies in trade deals but on the ground, at least in its initial stages, GST could not pep up Diwali markets.
The spectre of downturn loomed large and traders demurred the introduction of the ‘complicated’ tax structure that dampened their prospects this season.
Many traders and organisations have not been able to fully switch over to the GST slab because of the computing intricacies involved and this posed more problems for them.
Many traders have been crying hoarse from the very beginning that they would be hard put to embrace the transition in a jiffy and they needed time for the same.
But time is an endless entity and if allowed, years would pass before GST could be implemented. The government needed to strictly bring the tax to a working model so that the discrepancies could be located and worked on early.
GST had been hanging fire for years and it was time to test its utility. Avoiding something essential would only complicate the problem. The best is to face it and surmount it. It is true that due to GST and subsequent perceived price rise of commodities, the middle class largely kept away from binge shopping, but that may be a temporary aberration.
The season of festivities has just started and it will pick up by the year-end, experts hope. GST has certainly made many things pricier, but that is a micro-economic apparition because on the whole, it is an organised tax structure that saves money for the country and companies too. The real benefits will be seen in the long run.
People don’t easily understand or accept anything that is new or path breaking. It takes time for a reform to sink in. GST is a smart governance tool and people are more exposed to the rumour mills doing the rounds than studying the real pros and cons of the system.
There is much brouhaha without any real knowledge of the tax reform. The government and responsible trade bodies must also hold more awareness programmes for traders and common men to explain them the benefits of GST.
More workshops and interactive sessions will generate healthy debate and dispel doubts and apprehensions. There were serious discrepancies in price of things from state to state with no uniformity in their retail price, which ultimately robbed the customer of his hard earned money.
GST is there to do away with such irrational practices for good.- Window To News
