As a new tax structure, Goods and Services Tax (GST), is about to be rolled out in the country, Walmart India has flagged off a series of workshops for SME supplier partners to help them evaluate their GST compliance levels and prepare for the transition. The move by Walmart is to minimise disruptions in its businesses and enable SME partners to achieve sustainable growth in the GST era, the company said.

Under the initiative, the company will provide structured training programs on the various facets and nuances of GST. A few of them have already been completed in Ludhiana and Hyderabad and were attended by 76 supplier partners. The company has informed in a press release that several such workshops are being planned in Delhi, UP and Central India over the next few weeks.

“GST is not just a tax reform, it is a whole new way of doing business. With its impending implementation, it is imperative for all businesses, large and small, to get ready to embark on the GST adoption journey”, Krish Iyer, President & CEO, Walmart India, said.

He added, “As a significant number of our supplier base constitutes of SME and regional suppliers, these workshops are expected to educate them and accelerate their preparation by providing them with a platform to answer queries and concerns.”

PM Narendra Modi government is going to reshape Indian economy with one of the biggest tax reforms since independence. The Finance Ministry, on May 19, had released detailed rates for the incoming goods and services tax. The GST Council, the apex decision-making body for the new tax, has fixed the tax framework under the GST which is to be rolled out this July 1, slotting more than 1,200 items, into five tax brackets between zero and 28 percent, including motorcycles to steel pipes to sugar.

In 2016, Walmart India had called the GST as an ‘extremely progressive’ idea, PTI reported.

Krish Iyer had said, “With GST rates announced today, there is a good progress in this journey to have GST by April 2017. With half the CPI basket at 0 percent and a majority of daily consumption essential items at 5 per cent, it will keep inflation in check. Looks good and progressive tax regime.”

He had also said, “GST is one of the critical tax reforms which has potential to create one single market in India for goods & services and will boost country’s economy significantly.”

Source: Financial Express