GUWAHATI, April 13 - State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today urged the trader community to migrate quickly to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fold to avoid any kind of hassle post-July 1 when the one-nation, one-tax regime will be rolled out.
The migration of taxpayers to the GST regime through registration has been slow in Assam compared to some of the other States in the country, said the Minister.
Sarma while addressing a conference titled �GST Manthan� said that no one should remain under any kind of illusion about a delay in GST rollout as the new tax regime is going to be a reality from July 1.
The conference was organised by the State Commissionerate of Taxes.
The Minister opined that the GST is not only the biggest reform ever from the taxation point of view, but also from the general administration angle.
�The GST will virtually do away with any kind of human interface in tax collection and the taxpayer will be exposed to a seamless tax regime,� the Minister stated, adding that the States like Assam have been ensured 14 per cent growth in the first five years by the GST Council.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Dr Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Govt of India, termed the GST as the biggest ever tax reform since independence and urged the taxpayers to migrate quickly to the GST regime by getting themselves registered.
�There are States where 85 per cent migration process has been recorded,� he revealed. Adhia also asserted that having a Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a must to get enrolled in the GST mould.
�In India, we have around 28 crore PAN card holders although the number of taxpayers is about five crores,� he said, adding that both the Centre and the State Government will organise a series of reach-out programmes in the next three months for GST familiarisation.
A number of senior government officials and members of the trading community, besides tax professionals, participated in the conference.
