GJF welcomes Centre's decision to fix GST Rate at 3 pct low GST to enhance growth

Expressing his satisfaction, Nitin Khandelwal, Chairman, GJF said, “This is a landmark day for the jewellery sector as the Government rightly kept the overall tax burden low in the industry keeping in mind, the unique characteristics of the gems and jewellery sector, the kaarighars and small jewellers. We wholeheartedly thank the Honourable FM Arun Jaitley, State FMs, GST Council, VAT Commissioners, entire CBEC for their tremendous support and guidance."

"This low GST rate would help the Gold and Jewellery trade to go for more compliant and would mature as an organised sector in the years to come. In fact, this move will encourage the industry to become more organized, and help GJF to take them towards the path of accountability and transparency. We urge jewellers community to exercise utmost preparedness and start migrating to the GST regime, with the help of Software that will be launched soon by GJF, that will help the jewellers migrate and comply,” said he.

Over the past several months, the GJF has met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Revenue Secretary, finance ministers of more than 20 states, VAT & GST commissioners, to highlight various concerns of the sector and had suggested that the GST rate should be at 1.25 percent if the government expects the industry to be compliant and organised. The rate was ideal for generating more tax revenue than what the current tax system is generating.