GST–T N Ninan: Celebrating, with fingers crossed!–Business Standard–24.06.2017

Malaysia, often cited as among the more recent of the 140 countries that have introduced a GST, did not have an easy time of it. And India’s businessmen have a way of defeating the objectives of every solution that those in authority devise! Six months after demonetisation, the level of digitised transactions has slipped back to the old levels, traders who had pulled out unused credit card machines have reverted to asking for cash payment, and cash is back in real estate transactions. Vast ranges of products (like routine hardware items and sundry electronic and other gadgets) are habitually sold at the retail stage without anyone asking for bills, the former at significant discounts to the listed price. While the GST is structured to be an all-encompassing tax and to create a vastly expanded digital network of recorded transactions, no one knows how traders long used to avoiding taxes will apply their ingenuity. So, while hoping for smooth changeover to a “new, impoved” way of doing things, fingers crossed!