GST is a good initiative taken by the govt

Views by Sanjay P Chouthai, Healthcare IT Professional

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax applicable throughout India which has replaced multiple cascading taxes levied by the Central and state governments to ease the tax process. This will help India to trade with various countries like Australia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries.

As far as GST for healthcare industry is concerned, at this juncture it is too early to predict the impact. GST is at a mature stage and as the days pass, government and healthcare industry should take appropriate steps to benefit the patients. More impact is seen on cosmetics products, cosmetics surgeries and products which were not part of VAT has been included in GST.

GST is a good initiative taken by Government of India as this will benefit the end users at various states and at various locations. Before GST, every state was had its own taxes which was causing end user to pay more if the transactions are inter-state and within state. This is a beneficial move by the government.

Few of the positive things to mention

Instead of maintaining big records, returns and reporting under different statutes, all will come under GST, as the compliance cost will be reduced and also simplifies the procedure of claiming input tax credit. All manufactures, sellers , service providers will come under one roof and liable for taxes.

Few of the negative things to mention

May be for the products which falls in VAT as 13.5 per cent may fall into 18 per cent or more so in such cases end user has to pay more. Success of GST will depend upon percentage of a product and should evaluate in a given period so that it will benefit patient.

In my view, GST is not only a combination of VAT and other indirect taxes but also to simplify the process. This will also help government to plug out any loopholes.