Interim chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) John Joseph said the government is working on a lottery scheme for goods and services (GST) taxpayers, where the winning amount may range from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore. This is being done to improve compliance and boost collections that have been lagging in the current fiscal year on account of the economic slowdown and fake invoices. “Every GST bill of a taxpayer will be a price winning lottery ticket,” said Joseph.
The lottery scheme will be on the lines of what the Delhi government had under the value-added tax (VAT) regime for consumers, said the official. The Delhi government had introduced the ‘Bill Banao, Inaam Pao’ scheme in 2015 during the VAT regime. According to the scheme, a customer was eligible for a prize of five times the taxable value subject to a cap of Rs 50,000, if he made a purchase from a registered dealer. About Rs 5.65 lakh of reward amount was distributed to customers who participated in the scheme.
Meanwhile, during a post-Budget interaction with industry, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman PC Mody on Tuesday said that unlike corporates, individual taxpayers will have the flexibility to switch between the new and old income tax rates on a year-to-year basis. He added that the government wants to phase out all exemptions and deductions that a taxpayer gets in a staggered manner. Propagating benefits of the new tax regime unveiled by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, Mody said even the salaried class will benefit from the option of the lower tax regime. This is in lieu of exemptions and deductions and it was time to relook at the entire system.