Bengal achieves highest GST enrollment at 91%

Bengal has achieved the highest percentage of enrollment at 91 percent in Goods and Service Tax (GST) through the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) across the nation till date, said Bijay Kumar, Principal Commissioner, Service tax of Kolkata Commissionerate on Wednesday.

Kumar presented the data at the inaugural session of the CII-organised two-day GST training programme on Transition to GST Implementation which was attended by about 100 industry members more than 50 percent of whom were from large units.

Kumar mentioned that GST will be efficient and technology-driven. The GST Council will sort out the challenges regarding the rates.

"Dual GST in India will consist of Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST). In place of Central Sales Tax (CST), there will be IGST which will be known as Integrated Tax," he said.

Kumar added that 180 outreach programmes have been organised by the government through GST Mobile Van, GST Walkathon, GST Morning Walk seminars and many other such programmes.

A GST Motorbike Rally is also being planned and it is advisable for the businesses to share their mobile numbers at the time of registration.

According to data available with CII, the VAT migration in Bengal is quite impressive at 86.6 percent. Moreover, Kolkata ranks third among all the cities in the number of GST enrollment, the first and second cities are Ahmedabad and Mysore respectively, says the data.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the training programme, a senior official from the Commercial Tax Department of West Bengal said the state government is trying to make "GST system as simpler as possible" for businesses in the state. It is also trying hard to keep the tax rate to the level which will suit tax-payers, the official said.

"Currently, books are kept outside the purview of VAT. The West Bengal government wants to keep books tax-free in GST regime, too, keeping in mind the love for books the people in this state have is profound," the official said.

"Footwear is another important product – a reason why the state government is working on a proposal to keep footwear below Rs 500 free of GST," the official said.

It may be mentioned that state Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who is the chairman of the empowered committee of finance ministers, on Tuesday said that Bengal had opposed the proposed 12 percent tax on raw cashew.

Similarly, they have proposed 12 percent tax on footwear. The government will fight for newsprint, cinematograph films, bleached hair and

electrical energy.