UP Minister Fails To Spell Out Full Form Of GST?:- Before the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), “The full form of GST is...,” fumbled an Uttar Pradesh minister as he struggled to get the correct answer.
When media persons asked him to expand the abbreviation while he was interacting with local businessmen in Maharajganj to apprise them of the benefits of the much-touted new tax regime, Social Welfare, Scheduled Castes and Tribal Affairs minister Ramapati Shastri was caught in the limelight on Thursday.
Realizing that he had committed a goof-up, he rushed to add that he knew the full form but was not able to recollect it instantly. “I know the full form. I am going through all the relevant documents to gather more knowledge about the GST,” Shastri said.
He is the minister in-charge of Maharajganj district. This happened barely two days after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a workshop with his cabinet colleagues to explain the essence of the GST, which is all set to be rolled out on July 1. On June 14, Adityanath had asked his ministers, to explain the benefits of the Goods and Service Tax to people who were feeling confused ahead of the new tax regime. To make people aware of the GST, he had also asked his ministers and senior officials to conduct symposia.
About the new tax regime, the state information department has been asked to spread more awareness. In a specially convened session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on May 15, the State GST bill was tabled. Moreover, a workshop was held to apprise all legislators of the salient features of the proposed legislation on GST, after its passage.
State minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said, “The revenue of the state is likely to increase, after the new tax regime is implemented.” Under the new tax regime, the UP as a “consumer state” is proposed to be a net tax gainer, as the GST against the manufacturing source based, is a destination-based taxation system.
Under the Value Added Tax (VAT) regime, the State has also witnessed its tax kitty burgeon. On January 1, 2008, during the Mayawati government, VAT was implemented in the state. The GST is expected to create a congenial and cohesive atmosphere for business in the country, and is observed as a path-breaking step in the taxation regime.
SUPRAJA
