AGARTALA:
A report from the Finance Department, on July 21, has shown that Tripura witnessed a significant rise in the collection of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the past four financial years.
The report, which was prepared on the occasion of five years of GST introduction, said in the year 2018, the state collected Rs 608.71 crore as GST including compensation and back-to-back loans which in the last financial year rose to 1,785.51 crores. In the 2021-22 FY the collection of GST was Rs 1,282.69 crore without compensation. It further stated that from 2017-18 the GST collection in the state has continued to grow.
“In 2018-19 the total collections was recorded to be 1,132.44 crore which increased to Rs 1,197.64 crore in 2019-20 financial year. In 2020-21 total collection was 1,558.51 crore and in the last fiscal year the total collection was 1,785.51 crore”, the report stated.
Meanwhile, an event was organized to mark the fifth year of GST at Hapania International Fair ground. A number of taxpayers were felicitated for being consistent in tax paying.
Addressing the function, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, who is also the Finance Minister said, “GST has brought all the states into one single umbrella of taxation. It is a symbol of cooperation. GST has given a strong foundation to the Indian economy based on cooperation and consensus. On July 1, 2017, everyone, regardless of party affiliation, came forward to introduce a tough system like GST at the national level.”
The Deputy Chief Minister further said that paying taxes is the responsibility of every citizen.
“To fulfil this responsibility, GST was introduced across the country five years ago to simplify the taxation system. One country, one market and one tax system have been introduced as a result. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi feels that the success of any government program is not possible without the participation of the common people. So the success that GST has achieved in India’s tax system in 5 years is being celebrated with full public participation,” he said.
Describing the present system of taxation as taxpayer friendly, Varma said, “The taxation in previous regimes were coercive in nature while introduction of GST turned into a cooperative system. Apart from that, the central government has also brought a number of economic reforms that have democratized the system. Jan Dhan is a big example of that. People of all classes have been linked with the credit system of banks through Jan Dhan Yojana.”