Technical and administrative staff in place for GST roll out: Government

On the eve of the roll-out of the **Goods and Services Tax** on 1 July, 2017, the government said that all technical and administrative arrangements are in place for a smooth implementation of the new indirect tax regime. “There should be no apprehension on GST as all tests are done,” Chairman GST Network (GSTN) Navin Kumar said at a panel discussion along with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia at the Aaj Tak conclave here on GST. “I don’t think that there was a single time we thought we will miss the deadline,” Adhia said. “We have alternative arrangements if our systems fail,” Kumar said, adding that “we underestimate the talent of common people…they have the capacity to learn.” Revenue Secretary Adhia explained that under the GST regime, the materials used to manufacture a product become an important consideration. “We had brought out a list of 69 commodities which will become cheaper after GST,” Adhia said in this regard. “In GST, the entire value chain will be covered,” he added. “Inspector raj will end after GST, as refunds will be automated,” the Secretary said in the discussion on the GST and the **digital economy**. The GSTN chief said that their digital systems were already being used by a staggering over 80 lakh assessees. “It is not true that our portal gets hanged…80 lakh people used it,” Kumar said. Referring to apprehensions about the capacity of the information systems to handle the switch to the new tax regime, Adhia said: “Only ones who will get affected are the ones who will not pay taxes.” Speaking at the conclave earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that some technical glitches are expected to occur in the change-over to a new system on such a large scale.