By Rajeev M

Copyright thehindu

The Telangana government is set to lose revenue to the tune of ₹5,000 crore due to the latest revision of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates.

The government, however, took a policy decision to ensure that the benefits of the rate revision reach the poor, middle class and farmers. The entire Cabinet led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy took a unanimous policy decision to rationalise GST in the interest of these sections, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said.

The Deputy Chief Minister interacted with the business community in a meeting organised by the Commercial Taxes department on Tuesday in the backdrop of GST rate revision.

Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka said the Telangana government played a key role in the decisions on GST rate revision and as a member of the GST council, he played an active role in ensuring that rate revision benefitted the people.

Prolonged discussions were held in Delhi to simplify GST procedures and the decisions taken without compromises would benefit the people of the State. As a result, a large number of goods would now be available at lower prices. It was the responsibility of both the government and traders to ensure these benefits reached the public. Only when government and traders work together can progress be achieved.

Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka urged traders to honestly display the reduced prices of goods to the public after the rate revisions and to communicate the real impact of GST changes without hesitation. Traders should display the details of how the prices of various commodities changed after the GST rationalisation in a way people could understand.

The revised GST rates would significantly reduce the prices of agricultural equipment and food products. The slab of cement GST had been brought down from 28% to 18% leading to lowered prices of cement that would in turn create major opportunities in the growth of construction business.

Hyderabad was transforming into a ‘city state’ and urbanisation was increasing across the State thereby, the infrastructure sector would be able to organise its business systematically. He urged traders to display details of the reduced cement prices in front of their shops as well.

On the Input Tax Credit (ITC), he said it was truly beneficial for those who conduct business honestly. The State was however incurring revenue losses due to the actions of those taking unfair shortcuts. He urged traders to provide information about malpractices, if any, to the State government.

The State government was always prepared to discuss any problems traders face. “Our doors are always open”, he said adding the issues raised by traders would be discussed and resolved for making business across the State easier.