Private sector through Bhutan Chamber of Commerce has come up with half dozen concerns regarding GST. Business houses have requested to exempt IGST which is integrated goods and service tax. A meeting held on August 11th, the PM Tshering Tobgay shared with the media his thought about GST. He said that GST is a tax system which has been implemented in India while IGST is an act which falls under the new tax regime. The Bhutanese government does not have any right to ask India to change its law for any reason.
The implementation of GST is sure to affect the industries which are into importing products like cement or steel. The goods from Bhutan were not levied in the past except for VAT. For Indian importers, it had been cheaper to import goods through Bhutan. However, now with the implementation of GST, the imported goods including the ones coming from Bhutan are treated the same way the other goods are treated.
During a meeting with the private sector, the spoke person said that the industry dealing with cement would try to keep the cost of production low. However, for that, the factories need to have captive mines. This means they need to have the right to own the mines.
The private sector also requested the government to exempt GST on services like consultancy and other export services. According to GST bill in case the export takes place through convertible currency the tax would get exempted.
Exemption of GST on transportation is another request from the private sector. To minimize the effect of GST, the representative has suggested the Bhutanese government the refunding of sales tax while importing the secondary materials.
The ministry of finance has promised to review the proposal of introducing service tax on consultancy services. Currently, the government is maintaining price stability. Also, the government is keeping the neutrality of revenue. A notice has been sent requesting shifting of sales tax on products like vehicle.
Awareness workshops are said to be held in the bordering towns for private sectors.
