Indian officers exchange dialogue on GST in NZ

Indian officers exchange dialogue on GST in NZ

The Indian High Commission, along with INZBC and Accounts Icon, hosted an event in Wellington, on 20 July 2017, in Wellington. A senior delegation of officers from the ministry of finance, India spoke about the new GST environment in India. From NZ perspective, Jay Changlani (NZ Tax expert and Wellington Chapter Head – INZBC) gave an overview and discussed about the current issues with GST.

From NZ perspective, the topic of discussion was on the services relating to land in New Zealand & rules applying zero-rating to supplies of services to non-residents such as such as legal engineering or architectural services. This issue is currently in the parliament.

Siddharth Jain, Assistant Commissioner, Government of India expressed his satisfaction on the meeting with the INZBC representatives. “It was wonderful interacting with the India New Zealand Business Council in Wellington. We could see the similarities between the New Zealand GST system and the Indian system”, he said.

Mr. Jain commented, “New Zealand has a very efficient system which has been there for the last thirty years. In fact, the challenges faced by New Zealand in taxing services was very similar to what India is facing. It was also very interesting to see the Indian diaspora settled in Wellington having such an in-depth understanding of the GST system.”

Siddharth Jain, and Jay Changlani did the Comparative Analysis between India and NZ. A few pointers from them are given below:

New Zealand India
Rates Mostly Broad based at 15% Four tax Rates 5%, 12% 18% and 28%
Applicable on Registered Person Registered Person
Reverse Charge Levy only on supplier of goods or service Reverse Charge Mechanism for E-Commerce / Uber / Unorganized Sector
Credit System Credit Adjustment System Input Tax Credit with minimum blockage
Assessment and Audit Self-Adjustment Options Self-Assessment and Risk Based Audit

The trip was more of having an educational experience for the officers in the delegation.
“We learned a lot from the GST experience of New Zealand. It was a great interaction”, a sentiment shared by Selva Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, Government of India.

Gaurav Masaldan, Director, Revenue Dept., Government of India, complimented the Indian High Commission on making the event possible. He said, “We thank the Indian High Commission to organize this event. It was a wonderful experience”.

The event was organised by Jay Changlani, Wellington Chapter Head of INZBC. He said, “INZBC is privileged and honoured to host such an esteemed delegation from India along with the High Commission of India. This is another great opportunity to engage with the Indian Diaspora and businesses In NZ”.

The treasurer, INZBC, Bhav Dhillon commented, “we at INZBC are always working towards making the officials of both the countries understand and educate each other with the workings of the two economies. This event, is a step in the same direction. We would like to appreciate the efforts made by the current Indian High Commissioner, to help in encouraging such exchanges.

About GST in India
India’s biggest tax reform is now a reality. A comprehensive dual Goods and Services Tax (GST) has replaced the complex multiple indirect tax structure from 1 July 2017.
The concept of GST was visualized for the first time in 1999. On 8 August 2016, the Constitutional Amendment Bill for roll out of GST was passed by the Parliament, followed by ratification of the bill by more than 15 states and enactment of the bill in early September.

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