Capt Abhimanyu hails GST as path-breaking reform in taxation history

CHANDIGARH, MAY 4
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, has hailed the Goods and Services Tax as a path-breaking reform in taxation history which will knit the entire country into a single market by ironing out distortions,  put an end to skewed and dissimilar tax practices, and make the going for trade and industry a lot easier.
Capt Abhimanyu said the new tax would subsume 17 different types of indirect taxes of Centre and states and do away with multiplicity of taxes. 
Amalgamation of various indirect taxes into single tax will not only lead to simplification of the indirect taxation regime in the country but also pare down considerably the compliance cost to the taxpayers.
The GST would take the feature of Value Added Tax (VAT) from state boundaries to national level. GST is a destination-based tax. The threshold limit under GST has been fixed at Rs 20 lakh which is currently Rs.5 lakh in Haryana.
"It is my privilege to be a part of the process for bringing about this historical and far-reaching reform in the indirect taxation system of the country. The structure of GST has evolved through extensive discussions and deliberations, first under the aegis of the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers, and, thereafter, through combined efforts of the Centre and state governments in the GST Council", Capt Abhimanyu said. 
The Centre and states joined hands to hammer out a structure of GST resolving all contentious issues through consensus in the true spirit of cooperative federalism in the country. “It is a matter of great honour and pride for me to have been deeply associated with the progress of GST in various forums”, he added. 
The Constitution of India had categorically divided the domains of Centre and the states for the purpose of levy of tax. It is for the first time that the Constitution of India by The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 has empowered both, the Parliament as well as state legislatures, to tax simultaneously the incidence of supply of goods and services.
The amalgamation of various indirect taxes into a single tax will lead to simplification of the indirect taxation regime in the country. Resultantly, the compliance cost to the taxpayers will come down significantly.
        Capt Abhimanyu said another important feature of the GST was that tax practices had been harmonized to the best possible extent. The success of GST hinges on its harmonized operations. The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 provided for Constitution of Goods and Services Tax Council with the Union Finance Minister as its Chairman and having a minister from each state government as members.
For the success of GST, it is essential that Input Tax Credit (ITC) is first verified and, thereafter, passed on to the buyers or the recipients swiftly and efficiently. It is estimated that there will be 300 crore invoice-wise details per month to be captured by the GST system for verification.
“This is a voluminous task which cannot be performed manually without the help of state-of-art technology which will be at the backbone of the new taxation system. The success of the GST will largely depend on robust IT infrastructure”, he said.
The threshold limit under GST has been fixed at Rs 20 lakh which is currently Rs.5 lakh under the Haryana Value Added Tax. The taxpayers shall also be extended the comfort of facilitation centres to avail themselves of the facilities of computer and connectivity.
Small and medium-scale taxpayers have been given the option of composition. The taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of less than Rs.50 lakh, are eligible to opt for composition scheme. The taxpayers opting the composition scheme under GST shall have to file one quarterly return.
The Excise and Taxation Minister said, traders under composition scheme would be required to pay tax at the rate of half per cent under the State GST and half per cent under the CGST. The manufactures will have to pay at the rate of one per cent and taxpayers serving foods (restaurateurs) will be paying at the rate of 2.5% under the composition scheme of GST.
The composition scheme is not available to the tax payers engaged in the business of inter-state supplies or providing supplies of services except (restaurateurs). No input tax credit shall be admissible to a composition taxpayer. 
The GST shall be levied on a common base of taxpayers both by Centre and states. The rate structure on each supply of goods and services shall remain uniform across states and the list of exempted supplies of goods and services shall also be same.
A taxpayer will have to deal with only one taxing authority. The principle of single interface for the taxpayers constitutes the cornerstone of GST implementation. Therefore, the state authorities and central authorities have been cross-empowered to perform various statutory functions under the Central and states laws to provide single interface to the taxpayers, the minister added. 
The GST Council has been mandated by the Constitution to make recommendations to the Union and states on all matters relating to GST to ensure harmonised structure of goods and services tax system. The Council has taken so far all decisions by building consensus. 
It is the supply of goods or services or both that shall be taxed under GST at value addition occurring at each stage during the chain of supply of goods and services starting from manufacturing or importation to the final consumer. GST retains the feature of Value Added Tax of levying tax at the value addition at each stage by giving set off of the taxes suffered at the previous stages to the taxpayers.
Capt Abhimanyu said the GST would go a long way in doing away with the Inspector Raj as there will be a minimal interface between the taxpayers and the authorities. The structure of GST has been such that all GST related services to all taxpayers shall be available on a common GST portal though the tax shall be paid under three different Acts namely State GST, Centre GST and IGST.
The taxpayers shall have to file only one return. All the returns shall be filed online on the same common GST portal. The reconciliation and verification of each inward supply with the corresponding outward supply and input tax credit shall be made by the system automatically without any human intervention. 
Export-related supplies and supplies to SEZ shall be zero rated. Therefore, tax suffered on these supplies at the previous stages shall be refundable. All taxpayers registered under the existing tax laws shall be migrated to GST on provisional basis. 
Such taxpayers as are already registered under the existing tax laws shall be extended the benefits of input tax credit on the stock of goods as held on a day preceding commencement of GST, the minister added.
 
Salient Features of GST:

• The GST would be applicable on the supply of goods or services as against the present concept of tax on the manufacture and sale of goods or provision of services. It would be a destination-based consumption tax.
• It would be dual GST with the Centre and states simultaneously levying it on a common tax base. The GST to be levied by the Centre on intra-state supply of goods and / or services would be called Central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the states would be called State GST (SGST).
• The GST would apply to all goods other than alcoholic liquor for human consumption.
• The GST would apply to all services barring a few to be specified.
• In case of five petroleum products, viz. petroleum crude, motor spirit (petrol), high speed diesel, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel, it has been provided that these goods shall not be subject to the levy of GST up to date notified on the recommendation of the Goods and Services Tax Council.
• Tobacco and tobacco products would be subject to GST. In addition, the Centre could levy Central Excise duty on these products.
• The GST would replace the following taxes currently levied  and collected by the Centre:

a.          Central Excise duty
b.          Duties of Excise (Medicinal and Toilet Preparations)
c.           Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance)
d.          Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles and Textile Products)
e.          Additional Duties of Customs (commonly known as CVD)
f.            Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD)
g.          Service Tax
 

• State taxes that would be subsumed under the GST are:

a.  State VAT
b.  Central Sales Tax
c.   Luxury Tax
d.  Entry Tax in lieu of octroi
e.  Entertainment Tax (not levied by the local bodies)
f.    Taxes on advertisements
g.  Purchase Tax
h.  Taxes on lotteries, betting and gambling
i.     State cesses and surcharges insofar as they relate to supply of goods and services

• An Integrated GST (IGST) would be levied and collected by the Centre on inter-state supply of goods and services. Accounts would be settled periodically between the Centre and states to ensure that the SGST portion of IGST is transferred to the destination state where the goods or services are eventually consumed.
• Tax payers shall be allowed to take credit of taxes paid on inputs (input tax credit) and utilize the same for payment of output tax. However, no input tax credit on account of CGST shall be utilized towards payment of SGST and vice versa. The credit of IGST would be permitted to be utilized for payment of IGST, CGST and SGST in that order.
• Exports shall be treated as zero-rated supply. No tax is payable on export goods but credit of input tax related to the supply shall be admissible to exporters.
• Import of goods and services would be treated as inter-state supplies and would be subject to IGST in addition to the applicable customs duties.
• The laws, regulations and procedures for levy and collection of CGST and SGST would be harmonized to the extent possible. 
• ---balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Haryana CM discusses SYL issue with PM

CHANDIGARH, MAY 4
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that as the issue of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal is related to the 2.5 crore population of the State, all political parties, including the Opposition, should make persistent efforts to take this issue further in the interest of the State. 
          Mr Manohar Lal, who was speaking during the special session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha here today, said that all the political parties in the State had been raising this issue from time to time, and they should continue their efforts in future also. 
          While clarifying the issue of the meeting with Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said that as he was already in Delhi to attend the meeting of NITI Ayog, he had sought time from the Prime Minister to discuss various issues of the State, which also included the issue of construction of SYL Canal. In the meeting with the Prime Minister, held that evening, he had also discussed the issues of separate High Court for Haryana and Hisar Airport. He had also handed over a letter regarding SYL issue to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was made public today. He said that he had discussed the matter of separate High Court for the State, which was an old issue on which various resolutions have been passed from time to time.  He had also taken up the issue of Hisar Airport and had informed the Prime Minister that at present, the people of the State were getting the facility of airport in Chandigarh and Delhi. Therefore, as there is no airport in Haryana, the development of the airport at Hisar would immensely benefit the people of the State.
          He said that an all-party delegation led by him had called on the President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, and had sought his intervention for getting implemented the orders of the Supreme Court which nullified the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. 
          He said that on the direction of the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, the all-party delegation had also met Union Home Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh who gave a patient hearing, received a memorandum and assured the delegation that the matter would be considered in a positive light. Whatever suggestions or actions are received from him on this issue would be intimated to the House, the Chief Minister added. 
          While referring to the proposed agitation by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in this regard, the Chief Minister said that they could protest peacefully in a democratic manner, but within their limits. 
         The text of the letter handed over to the Prime Minister states,
“As you are aware, non-completion of a small portion of the SYL canal in Punjab has been depriving Haryana of its full share of 3.5 MAF water in Ravi-Beas waters for many decades. It is most unfortunate that our farmers of over one million hectares of parched fields and inhabitants of thousands of our villages are being forced to wait for water despite the decree of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 15th January, 2002. The entire nation is aware of the unconstitutional methods adopted by Punjab including the passage of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 and the Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016 to impede the construction work.
          More than 5 months have now elapsed since the Supreme Court unequivocally answered the Presidential Reference under Art 143 of the Constitution in favour of Haryana on November 10, 2016. …. Even as we eagerly look forward to early initiation of construction work, Punjab continues to adopt delaying tactics in the execution petition filed by us in the Supreme Court.
…. In the meeting dated 20th April, Punjab has categorically reiterated that it cannot allow completion of SYL Canal. We on our part conveyed our firm belief that the judgement and decree of the Apex court in the Civil Suit No. 6 of 1996 under Article 131 of the Constitution of India have already attained finality. 
          I, therefore, request you to issue appropriate directions to the Ministry of Water Resources to let the execution proceedings get completed, paving the way for early initiation and expeditious completion of the construction work of SYL in the territory of Punjab.”
===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

9 Jail Superintendents transferred in Haryana

CHANDIGARH, MAY 2

The Haryana Government has issued transfer and posting orders of nine Superintendent Jail of Prisons Department with immediate effect.

          Sanjay Singh, Superintendent, District Jail, Narnaul and Kulbir Singh, Superintendent, District Jail, Panipat will swap their places of posting.

          Sunil Sangwan, Superintendent, District Jail, Jhajjar and Daya Nand, Superintendent, District Jail, Rohtak will swap their places of posting.

          Atma Ram Bishnoi, Superintendent, District Jail, Jind will be the new Superintendent, District Jail, Yamunanagar vice Rattan Singh, who has been posted as Superintendent, District Jail, Gurugram vice Harinder Singh who will be the new Superintendent, District Jail, Jind.

          Anil Kumar, Superintendent, District Jail, Palwal and Deepak Sharma, Superintendent, District Jail, Faridabad will swap their places of posting.

SIX SDEs PROMOTED: The Haryana Government has promoted six Sub Divisional Engineers of Public Works (Building and Roads) Department to the post of Executive Engineers.

          They are Mr Manish Malhotra, Mr Rahul Singh, Mr Kamaldeep Singh Rana, Mr Sandeep Singh, Mr Vinod Kumar and Mr Rishi Sachdeva.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Haryana surpasses wheat procurement figures of last year

CHANDIGARH, MAY 2

Haryana has surpassed the wheat procurement figures of last year by purchasing more than 70.66 lakh metric tonnes (MT) till yesterday, as compared to 67.54 MT during the corresponding period last year. This is the second-highest procurement ever carried out in the state.

          While giving this information here today, a spokesman of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said that during the ongoing Rabi Season, over 70.66 lakh MT of wheat have so far arrived in mandis in Haryana, whereas over 64.75 lakh MT of wheat arrived during the corresponding period last year.

          He said that more than 70.60 lakh MT arrival of wheat has been purchased by five government procurement agencies at Minimum Support Price, while traders purchased 5,999 MT of wheat.

          Giving details of the wheat procured by government agencies, he said that more than 17.40 lakh MT of wheat has been procured by Food and Supplies Department, whereas HAFED has purchased more than 25.33 lakh MT of wheat. He said that Food Corporation of India has purchased more than 8.35 lakh MT of wheat, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation has purchased more than 6.45 lakh MT, and 13.05 lakh MT of wheat has been procured by Haryana Warehousing Corporation.

          He said that district Sirsa was leading in wheat arrival where more than 9.91 lakh MT of wheat has so far arrived in the mandis. District Karnal has recorded arrival of more than 7.25 lakh MT, district Jind more than 6.78 lakh MT, district Kaithal had more than 6.42 lakh MT, district Fatehabad received more than 6.53 lakh MT, district Kurukshetra more than 4.90 lakh MT and district Hisar has recorded arrival of more than 4.59 lakh MT.

          Similarly, district Sonepat has recorded arrival of more than 3.81 lakh MT of wheat, district Palwal more than 2.91 lakh MT, district Panipat more than 2.73 lakh MT, district Ambala 2.59 lakh MT, district Rohtak more than 2.56 lakh MT, district Yamunanagar more than 2.67 lakh MT and district Bhiwani 1.99 lakh MT. District Jhajjar has recorded arrival of more than 1.47 lakh MT of wheat, district Faridabad over 1.01 lakh MT, district Mewat 83,206 MT, district Gurugram 61,488 MT, district Rewari 35,765 MT, Panchkula 37,261 MT and in Narnaul 28,251 MT of wheat has so far arrived in the mandis.

---balbirsingh227@gmail.com

609 students shortlisted HSBTE job fair

CHANDIGARH, MAY 2

As many as 609 students have been shortlisted, with the highest package of Rs 3.5 lakh offered by Investors Clinic Infratech Private Limited, in job fair organised by Haryana State Board of Technical Education (HSBTE) in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry for polytechnic students (2017 pass outs) of six districts namely Ambala, Panchkula, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Yamunanagar, at Government Polytechnic, Ambala recently.

        While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Board said that more than 1,100 students from different streams such as mechanical engineering, automobile engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, plastic technology, finance accounting and auditing, instrumentation and control from 53 polytechnics participated in this job fair.

        As many as 34 multinational and national companies participated in the placement drive. These companies are Amar Ujala Publications Limited, Authbridge Research Services, C&SE Electric Limited, Cheema Boilers Limited, Comtech Institute, DB Secure Solution Private Limited, Exim Enterprises, Focal Skill Development Private Limited, Fujitech India Private Limited, HR Talent Hub, Investors Clinic Infratech Private Limited, Johnson Lifts Private Limited, KEIHIN FIE Private Limited, Lemon Tree Hotels, Mahindra and Mahindra, Om Logistics, Policy Bazaar, PPAP Automotive Limited, QH Talbros Private Limited, Snap-on Tools Private Limited, Sodexo Facility Management Services India Private Limited, Subros, Tech Mahindra Limited, Varroc Polymers Private Limited, IKYA, Webhitters, Sub Infra, Akshans, Space Consult, Dengno Graph, Arora Architects, Fast Arch, S Jindal and Asso, Live Satyam Group.

          He said that the candidates who attended the placement drive were very enthusiastic about the employment opportunities made available to them at one location and appreciated the efforts of HSBTE.

        He said that job placement drive was also organised at Government Polytechnic, Sampla, Government Polytechnic, Bhiwani and CRP Rohtak, wherein final year students from various polytechnics participated and many got selected.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Centre spending Rs 50,000 crore on road infrastructure

CHANDIGARH, MAY  1

The Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari, has said that the Central Government is spending Rs 50,000 crore on various projects in Haryana to further improve road infrastructure in the state.

          He was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the Pinjore bypass project from National Highway-22 to 21A at Pinjore in Panchkula, near here, today. The Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, was also present.

          The Union Minister said his ministry would accept all demands of Haryana. The length of the national highways in the state would be doubled as the Union Government has fast-tracked the decision-making process for all infrastructure projects.

          On the request of the Chief Minister, Mr Gadkari make several important announcements. These included three new underpasses on NH-22 in Panchkula in Sector-12/12A/21, 12A/Industrial Area/Sector-20 and at the inter-sector of the road dividing Sector 20 and 21, an underpass in the village of Dhakal, in Jind district, and one-time improvement works on the bypass section of NH-10, 65, 71 and 73 at a cost of Rs 170 crore.

     An elevated flyover would be built on NH-2 (Delhi-Agra) from Agra Chowk to Delhi Chowk in Palwal town, Sohna bypass on NH-71B, eastern bypass for Karnal subject to the condition that 50 per cent land cost will be shared by state, three underpasses on NH-10 at Bahadurgarh-Baldi road, Balour Mod and Rohtak Chowk, and two underpasses on NH-71 (Dujana and Silani chowk) on Panchkula-Yamunanagar highway,

          Mr Gadkari also declared the Khangsara-Kala Amb stretch as National Highway as well as four-laning of the road from Yamunanagar to Paonta Sahib. He urged the state government to help in land acquisition for the Delhi-Yamunanagar Expressway which would link Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. This will boost tourism and generate employment opportunities. With a view to bringing down the pollution level, the Union Government will promote electric taxis in Haryana.

          The government is making efforts to further increase the pace of road construction to 40 km per day from the current 23 km per day by March, 2018. The average road construction was 23 km per day in March, 2017 against only two km per day during the Congress regime.

          Mr Gadkari said 65 per cent work on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, which was being constructed at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, had already been completed. It would be dedicated to the people by the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on August 15.

          The expressway will help divert traffic coming from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir which currently passes through Delhi. Besides containing pollution, it would reduce vehicle pressure in Delhi by close to 50 per cent. The Union Minister congratulated the Chief Minister for ensuring corruption-free governance in the state.

          Speaking on this occasion, The Chief Minister said that prior to October 2014, there were about 1,470-km-long National Highways in the state which had increased to 2,480 km in 2017. After completion of the ongoing works on recent announcements, this figure would reach to 3,200 km.

        Mr Manohar Lal said the Pinjore bypass file, which was stuck during the previous regime, had been got cleared by the present government. This work would be completed at a cost of Rs140 crore in two years. The network of national highways is being spread swiftly in the state, he added.

          The Chief Minister also lauded the cooperation extended by the Union Government in enhancing the road and rail infrastructure in the state. The present government has got completed construction of 24 bridges and work is in progress on 21 others. The government would construct ROB or RUB at all level crossings in the state.

           Member of Parliament Mr Ratan Lal Kataria, and MLA Mrs Latika Sharma, also spoke. The Transport Minister, Mr Krishan Lal Panwar, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Nayab Singh Saini, MLA Mr Gian Chand Gupta, and senior officers of the state government and the National Highway Authority of India were also present on this occasion.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Online applications invite to recruit Veterinary Surgeon and Dental Surgeon

CHANDIGARH, MAY 1

Haryana Public Service Commission has invited online applications for the recruitment to 246 posts of Veterinary Surgeon (HVS-II) and 55 posts of Dental Surgeon (Class-II). The last date for submission of applications online is June 1, 2017.

        The total 246 posts of Veterinary Surgeon included 123 posts for General category, 62 posts for Scheduled Castes of Haryana (including 15 posts of shortfall), 24 posts of Backward Classes-A, 11 posts of Backward Classes-B, 11 posts for economically backward persons in general category, 15 posts for Ex-servicemen of Haryana (including three posts of shortfall) and nine posts for physically handicapped of Haryana (person with locomotor disability).

        Similarly, the total 55 posts of Dental Surgeon included 25 posts for General category, 11 posts for Scheduled Castes of Haryana (including one post of backlog), four posts of Backward Classes-A, two posts of Backward Classes-B, two posts for economically backward persons in general category, four posts for Ex-servicemen of Haryana (including one post of backlog) and seven posts (five for General category and two for Scheduled Castes) for physically handicapped of Haryana (including five posts of backlog).

        The closing date for deposit of application fee in all branches of State Bank of Patiala will be June 5, 2017 up to 4 p.m. For more information, interested candidates may log on to http://hpsc.gov.in or www.hpsconline.in.

        For any guidance, information or clarification regarding filling of the online application form, the applicants can call at helpline number 0172-2560754 on all working days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Similarly, for any guidance, information or clarification regarding deposit of fee, the applicants can call at State Bank of India, Sector-10, Panchkula helpline number 0172-4569042.

 R SATISH PROMOTED: Haryana Government has promoted Dr Satish Kumar Aggarwal, Additional Director General, Health Services to the post of Director General, Health Services with immediate effect.