GST is a milestone in the economic landscape of India-PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, GST has been a milestone in the economic landscape of India. Modi said, it has decreased the number of taxes, compliance burden and overall tax burden on common man while significantly increasing transparency, compliance and overall collection. It has been four years since the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, country’s biggest tax reform, on July 1, 2017.  Several key policy initiatives have been taken by the government to make the GST system ease and compliance mechanism simple, transparent and technology driven.

GST is a remarkable example of cooperative federalism wherein all the decisions have been taken in the GST Council by consensus. By replacing multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure, GST subsumed more than a score of taxes and paved the way for making India an economic union.The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax is a very significant step in indirect tax reforms. It came into effect from 1st of July in 2017. It promotes the idea of 'ONE NATION, ONE TAX, ONE MARKET.' With the introduction of GST, Ease of Doing Business has significantly improved in the country.

The Government has introduced a facility of Nil filing of GSTR-3B returns by SMS which helped 22 lakh taxpayers. E-Invoicing Facility has also been implemented which reduced time and cost for generation of E-way bills which ensured hassle free movement of goods throughout the country. Over 194 crore e-way bills have been generated so far.To provide relief to the taxpayers and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic, several medical equipments and medicines have been exempted from IGST. Besides, the amount of late fees has also been reduced to provide relief to the taxpayer.