Is the GST process being simplified?

Continuous efforts are being made to simplify the GST system in the country, said <span style="font-weight: bold;">Finance Secretary Dr Hasmukh Adhia</span> at a recent event organised by FICCI in New Delhi. He reiterated that work is being done to make the GST refund process fully automatic. 'We have gained in the process of simplification by introducing GST but that does not mean there is no scope for betterment of the existing system,' he conceded. On the simplification of rates and slabs, he added, 'We understand the need for it but we did our best in the given scenario, keeping in mind the revenue and societal concerns of the economically poor class.' <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sandip Somany, Senior Vice President, FICCI, and Chairman &amp; Managing Director, HSIL, said GST</span> is not only the biggest indirect tax reform but a landmark in the country's taxation history. </p> <p>'The results of the FICCI survey on one year of GST show that implementation has been successful on an overall basis with 76 per cent of the respondents stating that GST had a positive impact on their business. Also, 96 per cent of the respondents believe that the introduction of an e-way bill mechanism in lieu of check posts will facilitate ease of doing business.<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">''</span></p> <p>In terms of the impact of GST on business operations, sales and employment, the survey's findings are quite optimistic - 43 per cent of the respondents stated that GST had a positive impact on the demand for their goods and services as against 17 per cent who reported a negative impact. Further, 63 per cent of the respondents stated that the introduction of the tax had a positive impact on pricing, while the remaining 37 per cent stated otherwise.</p> <p>In his address, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harsh Mariwala, Past President, FICCI, Chairman, FICCI Task Force on GST, and Chairman, Marico</span> said that GST is a complex subject involving many stakeholders. 'It is combining well with the overall upturn of the economy and, going forward, it will evolve with lesser number of slabs and issues related to return and refund being resolved, in at least the next one year.' </p> <p>For his part <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sachin Menon, Co-Chairman, FICCI Task Force on GST, and Partner, National Head (Indirect Tax), KPMG, said, 'GST</span> will also be evolving with the changing economic and technological scenario, and during the evolution, rectifying issues will give a fillip to this new tax regime.'</p>