The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a stark reminder, to all the people of India and Goans in particular; that we the citizens of the country bear the expenses for everything the government spends. Be it infrastructure, salaries of few worthy and plenty of unworthy government servants, and even the cost of the frequent travels the Prime Minister undertakes on his luxurious private plane Air-India-One for his exotic travels.
From the Prime Minister’s point of view, while addressing the nation during the GST launch, he termed GST as Good and Simple Tax. Being a politician, undoubtedly he is entitled to have his own point of view. He probably meant ‘Good’ because they have now devised a method to widen the tax base and increase their collections of taxes. The first two months of GST collection figures are already pointing to robust collections, way beyond the set targets. ‘Simple’ because it will apparently eliminate all types of taxes and consolidate into one, so simple to calculate and understand.
Trouble with politicians is that they have become believers in one way communication where they decide and we the people are expected to follow, without applying our mind or raise genuine questions. GST definitely means more collection of taxes for the government at the citizens cost, but it will mean nothing, if the extra money collected is used to splurge or swindle. It does not make sense for the government to increase collection of taxes without addressing the core issue of corruption and government accountability concurrently. The GST Council, whatever that means, should look beyond just juggling the GST rates, to make sure the money collected mostly by pinching the helpless citizens, is not only accurately distributed, but also well allocated. But politicians will skillfully keep the distribution aspect out of the council’s domain.
Consolidating all taxes on one head also mean the government allocates the money where they think fit, we the people have no say in setting the priority. It will also conveniently sidestep government accountability to specific goals, especially goals that are difficult to meet. For example the Swachh Bharat cess, citizens demanded accountability because they could physically see cess being collected on their bank statements, a reminder that they were paying money to keep their country clean, but were not seeing progress. Politicians are not used to answering the citizens and GST will now become a perfect getaway for unfinished grandiose project announcements.
Terming the GST as simple was a bit premature, especially as there are many small time trading businesses yet to configure the nuts and bolts of the new system. While change is never comfortable to start with, most businesses will eventually figure it out, but that might be restricted to only those that can afford professional help, those who can’t, will fall by the wayside or forced to wind up. Hope the government has calculated the social cost attached if these businesses fold up post GST, because if that figure balloons to unimaginable proportions, add to it the already huge unemployment figures, than it is sure to drain all the extra finances the government hoped to generate through GST.
Actually GST might be the peculiar plan of the government to compel small businesses to fold up, as their margins will never allow them to afford computer savvy staff to handle this GST rigmarole. That means very few organised players whom they will bulldoze as and when they like, due to their small numbers. Rendering the huge majority out of business and then keep them on government’s mercy a surefire trick to enslave majority citizens and blackmail them for votes accordingly. Sounds farfetched? But actually this scenario already prevails in Goa, with most citizens already dependent on government either for careers or charity. Once a Goan enters into the government’s fold, don’t expect him to demand political accountability, because even a slight murmur can get them kicked out of their job or their dole cancelled.
Even though we pick up the tab for everything the politicians spends personally or for the country or the legitimate salary he earns and in many cases shamefully defrauds us, he is still able to keep you under his thumb. While ignorance plays a major part, it might have something to do with slavery being part of our genetic makeup. Our constant adoration to politicians point in that direction and to change this we might need a perception change from unexpected quarters.
Remember Tata Tea’s ‘Jago Re’ campaign that showed many Indians how to check the credentials of candidates seeking political office. On the same lines if all Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies displayed the GST figures in bold on their packed products, similar to, the way they display discount price, many a times even bigger than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP). This small step should be able to bring about a big perception change on the consumers psyche, because printing big bold GST figures on their packaging enlightens the consumer as to how much the company makes and how much the government takes. The consumer from his side can then add up all the GST they have paid on the products consumed per month, which should give them the figure they pay the government as share of their indirect tax. Once a citizen realises how much money he is spending by way of tax, it’s only a matter of time he demands accountability from politicians.
It’s perfectly natural to be skeptical of GST even though we are being persuaded to think that GST will take the country to the next level. At the moment the small trader unable to grapple the computer jargon is already terming GST as ‘Government Sent Trouble’. For Goans there is a silver lining though, we must remind ourselves that GST stands for Goan Slave Tax because our pride will force us to shed that tag as soon as possible. In doing so, it is only natural we start demanding government accountability, because ultimately it is we the people that are destined to pick up the GST tab.
(The author is a business consultant).
