The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has urged the State government to recommend rationalizing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs to the Union government to ease compliance burdens and eliminate the cascading tax effect. In a detailed memorandum to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, GCCI proposed a uniform 12% GST rate for all hotel accommodations. It also suggested allowing standalone restaurants to opt for the same 12% rate with input tax credit, replacing the current system where hotel GST rates vary by room tariff and standalone restaurants are taxed at 5% without input tax credit.
These measures aim to simplify compliance, address inverted duty structures, and boost the competitiveness of Goa’s tourism and hospitality sector internationally. GCCI further recommended permitting businesses to revise GST returns to correct genuine errors, providing input tax credit on construction services for hotels and homestays, and simplifying forms and regulations to reduce litigation and facilitate smoother business operations. Emphasizing the GST system’s maturity and strong revenue performance, GCCI called for a phased implementation of these reforms and offered to assist the government in refining the proposals.