KPMG statement - GST launch

Arun Kumar – Chairman and CEO at KPMG in India

GST is a historic tax reform, which will create a single national market by replacing multiple indirect taxes levied at different levels. With this new tax regime expected to add 1-2 percentage points to growth, it is indeed a game changing reform.

GST will set the stage for increased digitisation, remove the cascading effect of taxes and enhance logistical efficiency in supply chain management. Given its in-built incentive to pay tax, it marks India’s most comprehensive push towards formalisation and organisation of its economy.

The focus should now be on making the transition seamless and effective. Making compliance cost-effective, particularly for smaller businesses, is extremely important. The potential benefits of this landmark-reform will become real when the benefits of rationalised taxation accrue to consumers and business benefits from cost-efficiencies in logistics and streamlined processes.

Sachin Menon – Partner and Head, Indirect Tax at KPMG in India

· “A historic moment for the country as we witness the new indirect tax era from 1 July 2017, also a Chartered Accountant’s Day. With assumption and presumptions on date of implementation gone by, industry players including the MSME sector will need to iron out last minute glitches to ensure smooth operations from the first day itself.”

· “A commendable achievement by the GST Council to implement GST from 1 July 2017. Trade would expect the Jammu & Kashmir to adopt GST law at the earliest to really achieve the goal of ‘One Nation One Tax One Market’.”

· “The issuance of various notifications by the government in last two days including the changes in the rates have given a very limited time for the trade and industry to analyse its implication and make corresponding changes in the IT systems. It is expected that all the states will now issue notifications in line with the Central notifications to ensure that there are no gaps in language and interpretation.”

· “Industry will now need to focus on gearing up for invoice wise reporting from September and immediately address the pricing policies, inventory management and transitional compliance to achieve tax efficiency and prevent loss of credit in the value chain.”