Speaking at CAIT’s installation ceremony in Bhubaneswar, the traders’ body said GST has emerged as a major revenue generator for the government, with monthly collections increasing from around Rs 40,000 crore in the initial years to over Rs 2 lakh crore currently. However, it maintained that administrative practices need to be made more trader-friendly to improve ease of doing business.
CAIT National Chairman Brij Mohan Agrawal said the organisation has consistently advocated reforms that benefit the trading community and has been raising issues related to GST for years.
“After GST came, many departments have closed. Customs, Central Excise, all have been removed,” Agrawal said, adding that government tax collections have increased significantly since the indirect tax reform was implemented.
While acknowledging efforts by the government to simplify the tax system, he said traders continue to face difficulties in its implementation.
“The government says that GST has been simplified. But we want more simplification,” Agrawal said. “I have complete faith that the GST will increase as much as you allow them to work.”
Highlighting concerns over implementation, he added, “The government is… simplifying it. But when we come to the ground level, its implementation is not happening.”Meanwhile, CAIT Odisha State President Jitendra Kumar Gupta said traders have played a major role in expanding the country’s tax base since GST was rolled out.
“When GST was implemented in 2017… it was only Rs 40,000 crores in the starting. It has crossed Rs 2.5 lakh crores. It is already seven times,” Gupta said.
He said greater simplification of tax procedures would encourage more businesses to join the formal economy, benefiting both the government and traders.
“The government’s one aim is that revenue should increase. There should be an improvement in the economy,” Gupta said. “The more simplification is done, the more traders will come in the system. And as soon as they come in the system, the government’s revenue automatically increases.”
Gupta added that reducing paperwork and simplifying compliance requirements would help improve trade and economic activity while benefiting consumers as well.
The CAIT event was held in Bhubaneswar and focused on issues concerning traders, including GST implementation and measures to improve the ease of doing business.