North East is the biggest beneficiary of GST: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Guwahati: The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs,Nirmala Sitharaman said that North East is the biggest beneficiary of GST as this tax regime is destination / consumption based. North East has witnessed GST Revenue growth of 27.5% and the taxpayer base has increased significantly from 1 lakh to 3.45 lakh in the region. Sitharaman was in Guwahati on Friday to attend the Investiture Ceremony for conferment of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificates and Medals for — ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’ to the officers and staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs was held at Guwahati.

She highlighted that the GST has not only made an impact in collection of Revenue, but also in distribution between the States and Centre in a formulated manner. She gave the credit to the former FM, Arun Jaitley, for his contribution in implementation of GST in the country which resulted in the “One Nation One Tax” regime in India. She highlighted that Assam was the first state to ratify 122 constitutional amendment bills in 2016, which led to the remarkable achievement of introduction of GST.

She also highlighted that the North East is the biggest beneficiary of GST as this tax regime is destination / consumption based. North East has witnessed GST Revenue growth of 27.5%. The taxpayer base has increased significantly from 1 lakh to 3.45 lakh in NE.

And in Assam, IGST collection has increased 12 times since its inception. Revenue collection in other states of NE, such as Sikkim and Meghalaya has also increased significantly. She highlighted that the capacity of GST IT infrastructure has consistently and steadily been increasing and 37.74 lakh e-way Bills, 9.78 lakh payment transactions and 24.85 lakh