Centre to hold webinar for US firms to get GST doubts clarified

Responding to requests from US companies operating in India for greater clarity on GST, the Revenue Department and Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) are organising a webinar next week.

The companies can pose their queries to a team of officials, including those from the tax department, a government official told BusinessLine.

This comes on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi hard-selling GST to Amercian CEOs during his recent visit to Washington.

“The US India Business Council (USIBC) had been asking us to hold a meeting with tax department officials for quite some time on GST. However, we wanted the GST regime to be rolled out first before we answer queries on its implementation.

“Now we have to remove doubts promptly, as we do not want GST to be regarded as an irritant,” the official added.

The webinar, scheduled for July 13, is being organised by DIPP under the Invest India forum. The USIBC is coordinating participation by US companies, who are required to register first.

“We do not yet have a list of the participating companies as the registration process is just beginning. We expect all prominent US companies to be a part of it,” the official added.

The switchover to GST, which replaces all Central and State indirect taxes such as central excise, State VAT, service tax and a few other indirect cesses, would require businesses to bring about major changes in their account keeping, as it is destination-based and not source-based as the earlier taxes.

Moreover, the GST mechanism provides only for input tax credits and not for exemptions; so many of the exemptions enjoyed on imported inputs by foreign companies that export their products are not on offer any more.

“The companies would want to know exactly what changes they need to make in their operations. They might have other queries too, based on their experiences under the GST regime. We will try to sort out all the issues,” the official added.

In a meeting on June 25 with CEOs of US companies that have a significant presence in India, including Google, Lockheed Martin, Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Walmart, Deloitte, Johnson & Johnson and JP Morgan, Modi had pointed out that the GST regime would make India a more business friendly destination.

“The implementation of the landmark initiative of GST could be a subject of studies in US business schools,” he had said.