Centre conducts sensitisation seminar on GST

New Delhi: Racing against time to meet GST deadline, the Centre today held a sensitisation workshop for over 400 officials on the new indirect tax regime which Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha described as moving away from tax exemptions to seamless flow of credit and tax payments.

The workshop, held a day before an informal meeting of state Finance Ministers to discuss administrative control issues, was organized to sensitize these officers about the key features of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Speaking at the workshop, Sinha said GST is an important milestone in the concept of cooperative federalism where the Centre and States have come together to address an important national issue of present complex indirect tax regime in the country.

The successful implementation of GST can lead to this model of cooperative federalism being replicated in other spheres, he said, highlighting "GST reform process would lead to a move from the regime of tax exemptions in various sectors of economy to a regime of seamless flow of credit and payment of tax." 

Sinha was addressing the seminar organized by the GST Council, in which more than 400 senior officers including Secretaries of various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India participated, an official statement said.

The Cabinet Secretary also urged the senior officers to be fully prepared for roll-out of GST and be in touch with various stakeholders to address their concerns for smooth implementation of GST.

The seminar was also addressed by the Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia. A presentation on the salient features of GST was made by Chairman CBEC, Najib Shah.

The seminar concluded with a session on 'Questions and Answers' in which clarifications were given to many queries particularly pertaining to sectors of exports, transport, real estate, railways and airlines etc, it added.