GST to benefit Bihar, says expert

Dated 24th February, 2016

Bihar, being a consumer state, is set to be a gainer once the destination-based Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented in the country, claimed 14th Finance Commission member M Govind Rao at a meeting of various stakeholders at Asain Development Research Institute (ADRI) here to discuss 'GST: Implementation strategy and implications for Bihar' on Wednesday.

"Bihar will need to prevent the domination of producing states and gear up its administration and information system if it wants to benefit from GST. The government should revisit tax exemption list and keep it to minimum," Rao said, adding that tax structure should also be rationalized and there was no need to wait for GST implementation for that.

"The government needs to decide threshold, exemptions and rate structure, place of supply rules, deal with e-commerce, technology, training and taxpayer service and modalities to deal with present infirmities such as work contracts and area-based incentives," Rao said.

The economist said implementation of any reform takes 10-20 years and added, "GST is important in the context of Make in India. Though it is not a game-changer, it is still an important arsenal in the fiscal armoury."

Rao said nowhere in the world, the GST is flawless and outlined provision of 1% tax on interstate supply of goods as one of the defects of the present GST Bill awaiting Parliament's approval.

(This article is published in The Times of India on 24 Feb, 2016)