Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal was critical of the goods and services tax (GST) regime in his budget speech on Monday, claiming that it failed to bring about expected buoyancy. “The state’s revenue from major commodities like automobiles and auto parts, cycle and cycle parts, hosiery/readymade garments, soft drinks and cement has decreased in comparison to the corresponding period in the previous year. GST revenues have, thus, not shown the kind of buoyancy that was expected,” he said.
He said it was presumed before GST’s implementation that the levy would improve tax compliance and yield a higher revenue and, in turn, compensate for the shortfall in revenue in all states. “But, in the first year of GST implementation, the revenue receipts have been far lower than expectations,” he added. Manpreet said the business community of Punjab had adopted GST wholeheartedly and the state had been ranked among the top three in filing returns. Still, he said, there had been problems and the state had been airing them in GST Council meetings.
Considering problems faced by the local business community, Punjab has increased the limit of generation of e-way bill from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for intrastate supplies, he said “We are also organising refresher workshops and seminars for staff and stakeholders on a continuous basis in the hope that GST will evolve as a good and simple tax in the times to come due to Government’s pro-active measures and industry’s active participation,” he said.
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