Issues include double-taxation of re-export.
From (L-R): Mr. K.M. Hiralal, Deputy DGFT in Mumbai, Rupa Naik, Executive Director, All India Association of Industries, Dr. Sonia Sethi, Additional DGFT in Mumbai, Firoze Adhyarujina, Sr. Advocate Supreme Court and Legal Advisor and P. S. Kamble, Assistant DGFT in Mumbai at the Open House Meeting organized by All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and World Trade Centre Mumbai.
The Indian government is working overtime to address operational issues such as double-taxation of re-export following the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in the country.
“There may be some teething troubles in the short term. All the ministries are working overtime to address these operational issues,” Dr. Sonia Sethi, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, gave the assurance during a meeting with exporters.
The GST unresolved issues include the issue of double taxation of re-exports, adjustment of input tax credit, compliance with procedures, tax implication on construction contracts involving joint venture of foreign and Indian companies among others, according to industry feedback.
“GST will make our exports competitive in the long run,” said Dr Sethi at the Open House Meeting organized by All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and World Trade Centre Mumbai on 18 August 2017.
The DGTF is giving top priority to enhancing India’s share in world exports, said Dr Sethi, adding that the department will hold a series of interactions with exporters to understand their concerns and grievances in adopting the GST.
This Open House Meeting is a timely opportunity for DGFT to invite actionable suggestions from exporters to address the key issues on GST. I assure that your suggestions will be considered by the Ministry of Commerce before releasing the mid-term review of Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) in September 2017,” said Dr. Sonia Sethi.
She revealed that DGFT has maintained ‘zero pendency’ of work by clearing all the files of importers and exporters within reasonable timeframe.
“In the immediate future, all the functions of the DGFT will be digitized to improve performance efficiency and reduce human interface.
“DGFT is holding Open House Meeting every Wednesday to address the concerns of traders. Our Grievance Redressal Committee at the Mumbai zonal office is functioning efficiently in this matter,” said Dr. Sethi who also remarked that in future, DGFT – Mumbai plans to work with the Government of Maharashtra to enhance exports from the state.
In his welcome remarks, Firoze B. Andhyarujina, Senior Advocate, High Court Mumbai, noted that “GST is a visionary reform in India’s indirect taxation system.”
GST has converged 22 indirect taxes into three taxes and thereby simplified the indirect tax system. fii-news.com
