Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,on Monday, cheered the GST introduction, saying it will increase the assessee base in the first twenty-one months of its implementation by almost eighty percent.
He further stated that no taxes have been increased and tax rates have in fact moved downwards. The income up to Rs 5 lakh has been exempt from income-tax and even deductions available to the taxpayers have been raised to encourage and incentivise savings.
GST has enforced one tax across the country, eliminated barriers and made inspectors disappear. The number of assesses filing returns with reduced tax rates in income-tax has risen close to double in the five year period.
The minister highlighted steps that the government has taken in taxation reforms to curb black money- Enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, demonetisation, promoting cooperative federalism, Ayushman Bharat scheme, social sector investment and infrastructure development. The first NDA Government took key decisions on infrastructure creation and prudent fiscal management. Bold policies on telecom and national highways made significant impact on the economy.
Jaitley said the economy expanded at a rate faster than any other country in the world. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code changed the debtor-creditor relationship. Defaulting managements are removed from management and debtor companies are going in for resolutions with either new promoters taking over or by sale of assets. Banks have finally started recovering their bad debts. No one can cheat the banks and get away.
He said that demonetisation compelled people to deposit their high currency cash into the banking system, account for the deposits by paying taxes or otherwise. It led to higher tax collections and higher digital transactions.
He further stated that many in the Congress party lacked the conviction to support reforms.
