Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 14: Reiterating that GST is an essential business requirement rather than just a taxation system, Minister for Finance, Dr Haseeb Drabu today asked the District Administrations to assist local traders to register for GST at the earliest, especially in view of the upcoming festive season.
The Minister said this while chairing a meeting convened to review the progress made with regards to bringing the traders under the ambit of GST in the State.
Minister of State for Finance Ajay Nanda, Chief Secretary BB Vyas, Administrative Secretaries for various departments besides other concerned officers were present in the meeting.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Jammu, besides Deputy Commissioner of various districts also attended the meeting through video conferencing.
Noting that upcoming festive season is the prime retail time for local dry fruit traders, Dr Drabu said that traders will require their GST registration numbers to be able to trade in national and international markets. In view of this, he directed the DCs to organize awareness cum training programmes to educate local traders, besides encouraging them to register for GST at the earliest.
Dr Drabu directed the Commercial Taxes Department to focus on GST return filing and asked them to act as enablers and advisors in the field to facilitate filing of returns. Further, it was directed to train CSC/ Khidmat Center staff in GST filing procedure to facilitate local dealers.
It was informed in the meeting that delays in filing of returns will invite a penalty of Rs 100 per day.
The meeting also reviewed the status of PFMS implementation in the State. District Administrations were directed to ensure cent percent migration to PFMS for all centrally sponsored schemes by the end of October.
It was further informed that lack of action and compliance regarding this direction will lead to restrictions in fund flow.
The Minister also took note of the progress made on implementation of e-procurement in the State besides reviewing the public expenditure made by various departments.
Drabu held a review meeting on Revenue Collection for 2017-18 and Projected Revenue for 2018-19.
The Minister was informed that under SGST, Expected Revenue (ER) Realization for 2018-19 has been set at Rs 6194 crores while Projected Revenue (PR) is Rs 7061.47 crores. For Liquor and ATF, ER has been set at Rs 407.14 crores while PR is Rs 463 crores.
“On Motor Spirit and Diesel Oil Tax, ER is Rs 1183.44 crores and PR is Rs 1350 crores. Passenger Tax ER is Rs 13.32 crores and PR is Rs 15 crore while ER on Stamps and Registration has been set at Rs 219.69 with PR of Rs 300 crore,” officials said.
Dr Drabu said although the new system of indirect taxation has shaken the system which will take some more time to stabilise, the Commercial Taxes Department must organise training programs and identify points for filing of tax returns for the ease of businesses. The Finance Minister directed the CT Department to constitute a couple of teams for Srinagar and Jammu to see how the GST regime is being implemented by traders in markets,
The Finance Minister asked the CST Department to file a report on Benami licenses within one week and ensure that the PAN and other relevant information is seeded with the license holders. He directed the officials to stop the export of unfinished willow bats to outside States by misbranding without proper taxing system in place.
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