President Ram Nath Kovind, on Sunday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has made India a more tax-compliant society. Its rollout, a year ago, has enhanced the ease of doing business by creating a common platform across the country for registration, duty payments, filing of returns and refund of taxes.
“Adherence to a fair taxation system is much more than merely providing revenue to the government. It is part of the same social contract that underpins our Constitution. Under this Constitution, we have given ourselves not only certain rights but also certain responsibilities. Taxes are what we pay to get social benefits in the form of public goods and services, health and education facilities, better infrastructure, law and order, and secure borders,” the President said while inaugurating the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) here.
It is crucial that this responsibility is shared by the widest number of citizens – whether they pay taxes directly or indirectly, said Kovind, adding that GST has enhanced reliance on technology, reducing the scope for subjectivity.
Congratulating the stakeholders for theroll out of GST, the President said the its launch has been part of a sustained effort over the past few years to formalise the economy, enforce rule of law, promote transparency in financial and business transactions, and make India much more of a tax-compliant society.
According to Kovind, charted accountants have a hug role to play in making a society tax-compliant. “Chartered accountants have a key role in advancing such a culture. They are both facilitators of tax payers and of the taxation system as well as watchdogs of public trust. In many respects, a tax system is only as complicated as they want to make it. As professionals, it is their legitimate right to advice their clients on tax planning ,” he said.