West Bengal to gain from GST: Chief Commissioner

Net consuming states like West Bengal and Kerala are stand to gain from the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), chief commissioner of customs, excise and service tax Gautam Ray said today.
"Net consuming states like West Bengal and Kerala will benefit from the GST, while net producing states like Gujarat and Maharashtra will stand to lose," Ray said at an interaction organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce here.
Ray said this would be because GST would be a destination-based tax and not origin-based as the present dispensation was.
He said the government in its endeavour to serve the poorer sections of the society, would likely introduce four levels of GST rates namely zero, concessional, standard and high.

This, according to him, would make administration difficult. In most countries, GST rates had been fixed at a single level.
The indirect tax department in West Bengal region would soon set up a taxpayers unit to provide clarification on the various aspects of the GST.
This endeavour was aimed at better tax compliance, which would lead to higher revenue collection under the GST regime.