GST reforms are huge victory for each, every citizen of country: Nirmala Sitharaman
Chennai, Sep 14 (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the GST reforms are a huge victory for each and every citizen of the country.
Taking into account that every state in India has its own festivals, it has been decided to implement the GST reforms much ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instruction of launching them before Deepavali festival, Sitharaman said at an event in Chennai.
In her address at the joint conclave of the trade and industries association on "Tax Reforms for Rising Bharat' organised by Chennai Citizens Forum, she said the beneficial impact of Goods and Services Tax would be there for all products from the start of the day till people go to bed.
Explaining some of the key initiatives, Sitharaman said 99 per cent of all the goods which were earlier taxed 12 per cent under GST have now been reduced to 5 per cent.
The latest set of GST reforms are set to come into force from September 22.
Noting that the GST Council has reduced the tax rates for over 350 items, she pointed out that the Centre has introduced only 5 and 28 per cent slabs instead of the earlier practice of levying taxes under different slabs.
"We have also simplified the procedure for the traders also. There is no 28 per cent GST tax on any product," she remarked.
Referring to the increase in tax base from traders, she said before the GST was introduced in 2017, there were only 66 lakh traders who used to file their taxes. But today, 1.5 crore businesses have come under the GST fold in the last 8 years.
She said, "Opposition party leader Rahul Gandhi had termed the GST a Gabbar Singh Tax, but after the GST was introduced, the number of businesses which were paying taxes has been increased to 1.5 crore in the last 8 years as they realised that they would be able to benefit from it".
"This number of 1.5 crore traders filing GST over the last 8 years, will further increase in the future," she said, and added that because of that increase, the revenue to the Central and state governments has increased.
"In 2017, the tax collected was Rs 7.19 lakh crore and now the Gross GST collection has crossed Rs 22 lakh crore. On an average, Rs 1.8 lakh to 2 lakh crore revenue is collected by the Central and state governments. For example, the amount Rs 1.80 lakh crore gross revenue is divided into half in which the states get Rs 90,000 crore and Centre gets Rs 90,000 crore. Even from that Rs 90,000 crore revenue from the Centre's portion, around 41 per cent goes back to the states," she said.
"From this, we can understand that public and the state government stand to benefit through the implementation of the GST", she added.
On the classification issue pointed out by some traders before the GST reforms were introduced, Sitharaman, citing an example said, for the sale of popcorn there has been a classification. If salted popcorn is sold, a tax of 5 per cent will be collected if it is sold as 'Namkeen' category while for a sweetened popcorn, a tax of 18 per cent was levied.
"There are no taxes on popcorn sold on the roadside. But however, when the same popcorn is branded and produced in a factory, this classification comes into effect. But, in the latest GST reforms, it has been simplified. Now, all food products come under 5 per cent slab or no tax has been levied. So, there is no problem of classification anymore. This popcorn is an example for you all to understand," she said.
Sitharaman said to expedite the PM's vision of Viksit Bharat, these kind of measures have been taken.
"I expect people should welcome this move. In fact, a lot of companies like Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Godrej have assured me that they will pass on the benefit to the public," she said.
The union minister on the occasion also released a book in English and Tamil that showcases the benefits Tamil Nadu stands to get following the implementation of the GST reforms.
"What was the earlier taxation and what is the new taxation and how Tamil Nadu will benefit from this GST reforms? It has been clearly mentioned here and I urge you all to read the book which is available in both English and Tamil languages," she said addressing the audience present at the venue.
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Trump rushed out of dinner event after shots fired; one arrested
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.
The incident took place at around 8:34 PM local time when dinner was served. At that time, Trump was seen having a conversation with Weijia Jiang, the President of the White House Correspondents' Association, and mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to present a show at the marquee event at the Washington Hilton here.
Secret Service officials and other security personnel covered the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance, and the Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table, and escorted them out of the ballroom.
Several guests at the dinner, including leaders across the political spectrum, journalists and other invitees, ducked under the table, apparently as a reflex reaction.
Putting up a brave face, President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom is all that I heard, and many guests ducked under the table,” a C-SPAN reporter at the dinner said.
Hours later, Trump addressed a press conference at the White House and announced that the security personnel had captured one person who hails from California.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times. It was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away. He (the attacker) hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him,” Trump told reporters, recalling the incident.
Trump said one security officer was shot at but saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several protestors had lined up on the road outside the hotel, raising slogans against the Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A CNN reporter who was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton said he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed the venue.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California.
Asked how Saturday’s incident impacts him as the US president, Trump told reporters he is in a dangerous job but that he is no “basket case.”
“I like not to think about it. I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I handle it as well as it can be handled,” Trump said.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts over the past two years – first at a presidential election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and later in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024.
“I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals, and progressives...everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd,” he said.
“We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
