State Finance minister Prakash Pant addressed various stakeholders at a workshop organised by State Tax department on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Rudrapur on Tuesday.

Addressing members of the business fraternity at the workshop, the finance minister said that for the firs time since Independence, the nation was going through a phase of economic freedom. Implemented about a year and a half ago, the GST has achieved positive results. While the businessmen are getting various facilities online, the consumers are also benefitting from GST. This system is a successful step towards nation building, he opined. The general public has benefitted from the system of one nation- one tax while the business fraternity has made the system successful by using it. The suggestions received from time to time from the business fraternity have also paved the way for simplification of GST. Pant further said that before implementation of GST, 17 types of taxes used to be levied on products which also increased the price of the product. All procedures related to registration, payment and refund have been made online. To clear doubts about GST, the government organised more than 800 workshops in which two-way communication was established with 32,000 businessmen across the state. GST Mitras have been designated in the state to provide information and help businessmen resolve issues related to GST. Uttarakhand is the first state in India where the GST Mitra facility has been made effective. Compared to VAT system, a much larger number of businessmen have registered under GST.

The State Tax department will also organise such workshops in other districts of the state to inform members of the business fraternity about the GST system, added Pant.

Assistant commissioner, State Tax, Vinay Prakash Ojha also informed the gathering about various aspects of GST on the occasion.