BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the special session of Odisha Assembly, lawmakers of the State were enlightened about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill which will be introduced on Thursday for consideration and passing.
Inaugurating a workshop organised by the Finance Department here on Wednesday for educating MLAs on the benefit of single taxation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said GST is a major financial reform which would transform the country into one single market. “The GST will bring about comprehensive reform of the indirect tax regime in the country and a major financial reform to make India a single market,” Naveen said.
The constitutional amendment in 2016 to usher in the GST was an outcome of a broad political consensus, he said and added that Odisha has also played an important role in it. "As a member of the GST council, Odisha has been actively participating in the design of legislations,’’ he said.
The CM said a large number of Central and State taxes will be subsumed into the GST. The cascading of taxes will be minimised and this will result in benefits to business, industry and consumers as well. The Government will get the benefit of higher revenue efficiency through better compliance.
“The enactment of the State Goods and Service Tax will be the beginning of a journey. We need to ensure that a robust administrative structure and information technology-based platform is put in place. It is imperative to manage the transition process through capacity building of tax officials and members of trade and industry,” he said.
Director General of National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics (NACEN) PK Dash, who briefed the legislators about the features and objectives of GST, told reporters that the country will achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2 per cent after implementation of the proposed legislation. “National GDP growth will automatically propel the growth of the State,” he said.
Replying to a question on the loss to be sustained by the State in the years of implementation of GST, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the actual assessment now is very difficult.
Apart from MLAs of different political parties, Assembly Speaker, Ministers, Leader of Opposition and others attended the workshop.
Two Bills - Odisha GST Bill and Odisha Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill - will be introduced in the two-day special session commencing on Thursday.