The Goods and Services Tax (GST) system should first be implemented in select industries and service sectors to test it before rolling it out on a full scale across the nation, a top tax lawyer said on Thursday. “It is not known whether the software has been tested. In order to avoid chaos, the GST regime should be implemented in phases. It should be first implemented for select industries and then expanded further,” Arvind P. Datar, a noted tax and corporate lawyer, told IANS. According to him, there should be an extensive trial run so that glitches could be sorted out. Datar said it is not known whether the GST server can take the load as a huge number of returns will be filed on a single day across the nation by various business entities. He said he has no issues with the GST if there is ‘one nation, one tax rate’ but adding up various rates and calling it GST is not actually GST.
Terming the GST in the current form a terrible thing waiting to happen to the country, Datar said: “The world over GST is VAT (value-Added Tax). But in India GST is not real GST.” He said State GST law in various states may or may not be uniform. According to him, Article 246A of the Constitution permits states to levy taxes on goods and services, and hence there is nothing to prevent the states from levying additional GST. Citing the example of Singapore, Datar said, a flat seven per cent rate is charged on all products.
via Implement GST in select sectors to test it first: Arvind P Datar – The Financial Express
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