GST: Maharashtra chief minister says state will need a year or two to stabilise

Mumbai city news: According to officials, the department helpline received 710-odd calls about GST only

With the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Saturday proved a very busy day for the state sales tax department. The department’s helpline number — 1800225900, was flooded with hundreds of queries from people confused by GST.

Fadnavis on Saturday said the state may need a year or two to stabilise with introduction of GST, but reiterated that the state will not need compensation from the Centre after two years.(HT)

According to officials, the department received 710-odd calls about GST only .

At a function where he addressed chartered accountants, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said Maharashtra will need a year or two to achieve financial stability after GST.

He also said the state would not need compensation.

“The helpline was busy throughout the day as we have got 710-odd calls on queries only related to GST. Most of the queries were related to its registration,” said a senior officer. requesting anonymity.

The sales tax department is also coming up with frequently asked questions (FAQ) to help address queries related to GST. “By organising so many seminars on GST, we are now aware of the common queries and are coming out with FAQs in the coming days. It will be based on subjects such as registration, returns, transition etc.,” said Rajiv Jalota, sales tax commissioner

The department has already shot videos of its training sessions organised for officers as part of its preparations for GST rollout, which will be uploaded on the website.

“The same videos will also be sent to 8 lakh dealers who have registered with us for GST,” Jalota told HT.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis on Saturday said the state may need a year or two to stabilise with introduction of GST, but reiterated that the state will not need compensation from the Centre after two years. “Though Maharashtra is a manufacturing state, it will still benefit because of GST. With GST,state can now tax the services. GST could take a year or two to stabilise, but I feel that Maharashtra will not need compensation after two years as we will create a huge base for tax,” Fadnavis said at an event organised by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Matunga.

The Centre has agreed to compensate the state for its possible losses with the introduction of GST.

‘Tickets for Marathi films set to cost more’

Even though the prices of tickets for Bollywood movies in multiplexes may fall, state education and culture minister Vinod Tawde on Saturday said the ticket prices for Marathi movies and plays were bound to increase under GST.

The cap on ticket prices of Marathi movies and plays will be removed under GST, he added.

The earlier 16% service tax will now be increased to 18% with the implementation of the GST system.

He said that this will benefit Marathi producers, but film lovers will have to pay more

Tawade was in Thane on the occasion of his nephew’s wedding when he spoke to the media.

The government had been trying to promoting Marathi cinema and plays by reducing ticket prices , so as to bring in more audiences.

For this ,there was a specific cap imposed on the ticket rates of Marathi cinema and plays.

However, sources say this led to losses to the producers and there was a demand to remove this cap.

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