Skip to main content

India Inc to lobby against imposition of cess

India Inc may prefer a higher rate at the top end of the goods and services tax (GST) bracket, rather than have a cess that is non-creditable by nature, with a cascading effect on the indirect tax system.
"Industry is not going to welcome the idea of a cess. In fact, industry may prefer a higher tax rate so that the input tax credit chain is not broken, and the whole indirect system remains less complicated," said Harishanker Subramaniam, national leader, indirect tax, EY India.
Tax experts say imposing a cess is a bad idea as it complicates the structure of GST. Pratik Jain, leader indirect tax, PwC India, agrees that cesses, if imposed, will lead to cascading of taxes and complicate the overall GST structure. "Increasing the rate of GST slightly might be a better solution," he adds.
Tax experts and corporate lawyers say the government in all its communications on GST highlighted that all cesses and surcharges would be subsumed under the new indirect tax regime. This was also reflected in all official documents till date.
A cess will increase the compliance hurdle for businesses, say experts. "It will add to challenges for companies when it comes to record keeping and making changes in their IT system," said Sachin Menon, partner and head of indirect tax, KPMG.
Another school of thought among tax experts feels the impact and scope of the proposed cess should be limited, if it has to be imposed. According to Rajeev Dimri, leader, indirect tax, BMR & Associate, the cess is workable only if it is limited to only two or three items in the business-to-consumer space. "It will still be a distraction, but could be overlooked," he adds. The quantum of the cess and the stages of transaction where it is imposed will be a key determinant of their impact on the indirect tax system, say experts.
Over the next two weeks, tax experts and industry players are expected to intensify lobbying to do away with the proposed cess. "One hopes that government will reconsider the decision on cess," said an expert.
Business Standard New Delhi,20th October 2016

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Data storage norm splits digital payments industry

Data storage norm splits digital payments industry  India’s nascent digital payment industry could be thrown into disarray due to the demand by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that all user data be stored within the country, fears an industry grouping, which has termed the decision as “heavy-handed”, even as others, including the country’s largest digital payment provider Paytm, have hailed the move.  In a bid to narrow the growing schism, the industry is planning to send a formal representation to the regulator highlighting its concerns, a top official told ET.  “We are trying to build a consensus on the issue," said the person adding that the representation to the central bank will be ready this week.  RBI on April 6, mandated all payment companies—global and local—to set up data storage facilities within India by October. The stringent six-month deadline has attracted the ire of several sections of the industry that fear it will lead to a disruption of wel...

Offer’s for all of you

Great Bumper Dhamaka Offer’s for all of you... It's Time to see your Business Online, WebeCreator Offer Website Designing with domain & Email @ nominal charges. For a year For More information visit us http://goo.gl/KlpppF call on 9890151261/9773197533  drop a mail to sales@webecreator.com

Sebi to finalise options in commodities today

The Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) will meet on Friday with senior officials of the latter, to give a final shape to the rules on options trading in commodity futures, beside revising the warehousing norms to ensure good delivery on settlement. The decision taken, after discussing with the advisory committee, will be placed before the regulator’s board, to finalise the regulations. According to knowledgeable sources, three commodities in each segment, agricultural and non- agricultural, have been proposed for introducing options. It appears commodities from the soya and guar segments are preferred in the former. From the non- agri segment, it is likely that gold, silver and crude oil will be finalised. All these These have better liquidity and both the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and the Multi Commodity Exchange, respectively, will be able to introduce the options. In the equity segments, options ar...