During an interaction with businessmen, entrepreneurs, CAs and others in Pune, Sitharaman asked tax professionals not to curse the GST system and sought their help to make it better.
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman. (File Photo: IANS)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday admitted that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) might have “flaws” but asserted that it has become the law of the country now.
During an interaction with businessmen, entrepreneurs, Chartered Accountants and others in Pune, Sitharaman asked tax professionals not to curse the GST system and sought their help to make it better.
The minister was replying to the concerns raised by taxation industry professionals here, who said the industry was “cursing” the government over how the GST was implemented.
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She objected to people “cursing” GST saying that the law was passed by the Parliament and all the state assemblies.
Billed as the biggest reform in indirect taxation, the Goods and Services Tax, which does away with a host of levies from the federal to the local government levels, was implemented in July 2017.
“After a long time, many parties in Parliament and in state assemblies worked together and came up with the Act. I know you are saying this based on your experiences but suddenly we cannot call ‘what a goddamn structure it is’,” the minister said.
Sitharaman further apologised for the difficulties created by the GST but asserted that one cannot “damn” it.
“We cannot damn it. It might have flaws, it might probably give you difficulties but I am sorry, it is the law of the land,” she said.
Earlier during a presser, when asked about the low GST collections, minister attributed it the difficulties due to weather-related disasters and also poor compliance.
(With PTI inputs)
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