“The government has only gone through the constitutional ritual of passing the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 without producing any empirical or quantitative study comparing and contrasting present scenario of VAT-based tax revenue with post-GST scenario,” Khaunte wrote in a letter to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
He said a white paper touching relevant micro-economic and macro-issues is needed for the purpose of public information, generation of useful ideas through democratic discourse, among professionals, demonstrate proactive transparent and responsible good governance and ensure prudent financial management based on society inputs.
“We need such a document as people of this State deserve such a document when we are transiting to a novel and radical tax regime,” he said.
“In terms of per capita foreign exchange earnings, Goa is at the top despite a setback in mining. Goa also ranks in the top in per capita non-corporate income tax revenue.”
The tax load on an average Goan is also the highest in the country,” he said.
Further, Khaunte stated that just because the local VAT payer is not complaining does not mean that people can’t expect a professional roadmap from the government.
