Chennai: The Central Government is taking steps to table the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the coming monsoon session of Parliament, said Najib Shah, chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Inaugurating an office for Indirect-tax Ombudsman in Customs and Central Excise, Chennai, on Wednesday, he said the government has been taking steps to reduce the interaction of traders/people with the central government. Latest software would be utilised to minimise the contact with officials for all works. This would give fillip to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s pet scheme, ‘Make in India mission’ and to ease conduct of business in the country.
Talking about introduction of GST Bill in Parliament, he said “We look forward to introduce it in the monsoon session in Parliament. Hectic work has been going on in preparing the bill and holding discussions with the concerned officials. Subsequently, the draft bill will be published in the public domain. Discussions would be held with all stakeholders, including State governments. The public also are invited to express their opinion. Efforts would be taken to redress grievances and the final bill, a significant step in reform of indirect taxation, would be tabled in Parliament only after building consensus among all stakeholders.
Najib Shah lauded the department officials for netting revenue of Rs 7.09 lakh crore. Of this, Chennai region earned Rs 30,000 cr. He said the department has fixed a target of generating revenue of Rs 7.80L crore for 2016-17.
Earlier, addressing officials of Central Excise and Customs, he asked them to collect tax from the people whatever is due from them. Pointing out the importance of Ombudsman in the department, he said Ombudsman has been set up to protect the tax payers’ rights.
The Union Finance Ministry set up Indirect-taxes Ombudsman in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. The Indirect-taxes Ombudsman, which was set up in July 2014, settled 40 complaints and refunded Rs 2.18 crore to indirect tax payers. Several complaints were settled within 10-days. The Ombudsman, Chennai, has jurisdiction over TN, AP, Telangana and Puducherry.
