J&K’s GST revenue growth much higher than national average: LG

Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Sunday said J&K’s GST revenue growth was much higher than the national average.

An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that in his address after the J&K State Taxes Department Sunday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for knowledge sharing and capacity building of the officers of State Taxes Department in his presence, the LG said, “The GST revenue growth of J&K has been much higher than the national average and we have reasons to be confident about the prospects due to reforms we carried out in the last few years to accelerate economic growth with social equality.”

He said that the new policies, greater transparency in governance, and crackdown on cronyism had enabled enterprises, industries, and new-age businesses to grow.

Sinha complimented the high standards of professionalism shown by the J&K State Taxes Department and the ICAI.

He said that the MoU signed on Sunday marked the beginning of a new partnership between ICAI and J&K.

The LG said that the support and assistance of the ICAI to the State Taxes Department in future policy-making and various other aspects related to taxation would strengthen the ongoing reforms in ease of doing business and economy.

At the inaugural session of the capacity building programme on GST, he lauded the honest taxpayers for their contribution to the development of J&K and shared the efforts of the government for creating a favourable environment for the economy and business.

Sinha said that the government had placed great emphasis on making the economy more competitive, increasing the tax base, compliance, and strengthening trust between citizens and the government.

He appreciated the State Taxes Department for making the tax-paying process seamless and friendlier in every district and spreading awareness of the tax regime.

The LG urged the department and the citizens of J&K to play a constructive role in pushing forward to industrialisation and making J&K one of the engines of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

He also assured all the necessary support by the administration to the ICAI for establishing their Centre of Excellence in J&K.

Sinha released the revised edition of GST Acts and Rules – Bare Law and felicitated the consumers under the ‘Mera Bill Mera Adhikar’ campaign.

Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta; Principal Secretary, Finance, Santosh D Vaidya; Commissioner State Taxes Department, Rashmi Singh; Vice President ICAI, Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal; Chairman, GST and Indirect Taxes Committee, Sushil Kumar Goyal; Vice Chairman, GST and Indirect Taxes Committee, Umesh Sharma were also present on the occasion.