New Delhi: States have welcomed the decisions taken at the 57th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday, describing the latest reforms as an important step towards simplifying the tax regime, easing compliance and addressing the concerns faced by businesses and taxpayers.
The meeting, which focused largely on procedural and structural reforms, drew positive reactions from finance ministers and chief ministers of several states, who said the changes would make the GST framework more efficient while improving ease of doing business.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said one of the key strengths of the GST Council is that it brings states together to discuss ways to make the tax framework simpler and provide greater convenience to citizens.
She said the meeting also focused on improving the implementation of GST and making the system more effective for taxpayers.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant also welcomed the reforms, saying the measures would help reduce difficulties faced by people and make the overall GST system more convenient.
West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said GST has remained beneficial for states such as West Bengal, with a significant share of the state’s revenue coming from the tax.
He said the latest structural reforms placed considerable emphasis on rationalising various provisions and strengthening the ease of doing business. Such measures, he added, would provide long-term benefits to states by making the system easier to operate.
Dasgupta also acknowledged that ensuring compliance with GST rules had often been a challenge for the state, but said awareness around compliance had improved. He described the Council’s deliberations as highly positive.
Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the GST Council has consistently served as an appropriate forum for addressing grievances raised by businesses and simplifying procedures.
He praised the efforts of the Central government and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to make the GST system more taxpayer-friendly and protect businesses from unnecessary difficulties.
Khanna also recalled the rate rationalisation undertaken at the September 3 meeting, saying it had provided relief to the common people without compromising government revenues.
He said the latest meeting shifted the focus towards easing procedures for businesses, particularly in areas where taxpayers had faced difficulties.
“From registration to refunds, wherever businesses were facing problems, the processes have now been simplified,” Khanna said.
He described the measures as a major Diwali gift for the business community and welcomed the steps aimed at providing relief from unnecessary arrests under the GST law.
Khanna said the government’s approach had been to first provide relief to consumers through rate rationalisation and subsequently address the difficulties faced by businesses through procedural reforms.
(IANS)
