Friday, June 30, 2017

What is GST

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The Goods and Services Tax or GST is scheduled to be launched on the 1st of July, and it is set to revolutionize the way we do our taxes. But what is GST and how will it reform the current tax structure? And most importantly, why does the country need such a huge overhaul in its taxation policies? We answer these pressing questions in this in-depth article.
Contents
  1. What is GST?
  2. Why is Goods and Services Tax so Important?
  3. How does GST work?
  4. How will GST help India and common man?
  5. GST Law in India – A Detailed History
  6. Summary

What is GST?

Goods & Services Tax is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that will be levied on every value addition.
To understand this, we need to understand the concepts under this definition. Let us start with the term ‘Multi-stage’. Now, there are multiple steps an item goes through from manufacture or production to the final sale. Buying of raw materials is the first stage. The second stage is production or manufacture. Then, there is the warehousing of materials. Next, comes the sale of the product to the retailer. And in the final stage, the retailer sells you – the end consumer – the product, completing its life cycle.
So, if we had to look at a pictorial description of the various stages, it would look like:
GST basics
Goods and Services Tax will be levied on each of these stages, which makes it a multi-stage tax. How? We will see that shortly, but before that, let us talk about ‘Value Addition’.
Let us assume that a manufacturer wants to make a shirt. For this he must buy yarn. This gets turned into a shirt after manufacture. So, the value of the yarn is increased when it gets woven into a shirt. Then, the manufacturer sells it to the warehousing agent who attaches labels and tags to each shirt. That is another addition of value after which the warehouse sells it to the retailer who packages each shirt separately and invests in marketing of the shirt thus increasing its value.
Value-addition
GST will be levied on these value additions – the monetary worth added at each stage to achieve the final sale to the end customer.
There is one more term we need to talk about in the definition – Destination-Based. Goods and Services Tax will be levied on all transactions happening during the entire manufacturing chain. Earlier, when a product was manufactured, the centre would levy an Excise Duty on the manufacture, and then the state will add a VAT tax when the item is sold to the next stage in the cycle. Then there would be a VAT at the next point of sale.
So, earlier the pattern of tax levy was like this:
ClearTax GST
Now, Goods and Services Tax will be levied at every point of sale. Assume that the entire manufacture process is happening in Rajasthan and the final point of sale is in Karnataka. Since Goods & Services Tax is levied at the point of consumption, so the state of Rajasthan will get revenue in the manufacturing and warehousing stages, but lose out on the revenue when the product moves out Rajasthan and reaches the end consumer in Karnataka. This means that Karnataka will earn that revenue on the final sale, because it is a destination-based tax and this revenue will be collected at the final point of sale/destination which is Karnataka.
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Why is Goods and Services Tax so Important?

So, now that we have defined GST, let us talk about why it will play such a significant role in transforming the current tax structure, and therefore, the economy.
Currently, the Indian tax structure is divided into two – Direct and Indirect Taxes. Direct Taxes are levies where the liability cannot be passed on to someone else. An example of this is Income Tax where you earn the income and you alone are liable to pay the tax on it.
In the case of Indirect Taxes, the liability of the tax can be passed on to someone else. This means that when the shopkeeper must pay VAT on his sale, he can pass on the liability to the customer. So, in effect, the customer pays the price of the item as well as the VAT on it so the shopkeeper can deposit the VAT to the government. This means that the customer must pay not just the price of the product, but he also pays the tax liability, and therefore, he has a higher outlay when he buys an item.
This happens because the shopkeeper has paid a tax when he bought the item from the wholesaler. To recover that amount, as well as to make up for the VAT he must pay to the government, he passes the liability to the customer who has to pay the additional amount. There is currently no other way for the shopkeeper to recover whatever he pays from his own pocket during transactions and therefore, he has no choice but to pass on the liability to the customer.
Goods and Services Tax will address this issue after it is implemented. It has a system of Input Tax Credit which will allow sellers to claim the tax already paid, so that the final liability on the end consumer is decreased.

How does GST work?

A nationwide tax reform cannot function without strict guidelines and provisions. The GST Council has devised a fool proof method of implementing this new tax regime by dividing it into three categories. Wondering how they work? Let our experts explain this to you in detail.
When Goods and Services Tax is implemented, there will be 3 kinds of applicable Goods and Services Taxes:
CGST: where the revenue will be collected by the central government
SGST: where the revenue will be collected by the state governments for intra-state sales
IGST: where the revenue will be collected by the central government for inter-state sales
In most cases, the tax structure under the new regime will be as follows:
Transaction New Regime Old Regime Comments
Sale within the state CGST + SGST VAT + Central Excise/Service tax Revenue will now be shared between the Centre and the State
Sale to another State IGST Central Sales Tax + Excise/Service Tax There will only be one type of tax (central) now in case of inter-state sales.

Example

A dealer in Maharashtra sold goods to a consumer in Maharashtra worth Rs. 10,000. The Goods and Services Tax rate is 18% comprising CGST rate of 9% and SGST rate of 9%. In such cases the dealer collects Rs. 1800 and of this amount, Rs. 900 will go to the central government and Rs. 900 will go to the Maharashtra government.
Now, let us assume the dealer in Maharashtra had sold goods to a dealer in Gujarat worth Rs. 10,000. The GST rate is 18% comprising of CGST rate of 9% and SGST rate of 9%. In such case the dealer has to charge Rs. 1800 as IGST. This IGST will go to the Centre. There will no longer be any need to pay CGST and SGST.

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How will GST help India and common man?

The basis of Goods and Services Tax is the seamless flow of Input Tax Credit (ITC) along the entire value addition chain. At every step of the manufacturing process, businesses will have the option to claim the tax already paid in the previous transaction. Understanding this process is crucial for businesses. A detailed explanation here.
To understand this, let us first understand what is Input Tax Credit. It is the credit an individual receives for the tax paid on the inputs used in manufacturing the product. So, if there is a 10% tax that the individual must submit to the government, he can subtract the amount he has paid in taxes at the time of purchase and submit the balance amount to the government.
Let us understand this with a hypothetical numerical example.
Say a shirt manufacturer pays Rs. 100 to buy raw materials. If the rate of taxes is set at 10%, and there is no profit or loss involved, then he has to pay Rs. 10 as tax. So, the final cost of the shirt now becomes Rs (100+10=) 110.
At the next stage, the wholesaler buys the shirt from the manufacturer at Rs. 110, and adds labels to it. When he is adding labels, he is adding value. Therefore, his cost increases by say Rs. 40. On top of this, he has to pay a 10% tax, and the final cost therefore becomes Rs. (110+40=) 150 + 10% tax = Rs. 165.
Now, the retailer pays Rs. 165 to buy the shirt from the wholesaler because the tax liability had passed on to him. He has to package the shirt, and when he does that, he is adding value again. This time, let’s say his value add is Rs. 30. Now when he sells the shirt, he adds this value (plus the VAT he has to pay the government) to the final cost. So, the cost of the shirt becomes Rs. 214.5 Let us see a breakup for this:
Cost = Rs. 165 + Value add = Rs. 30 + 10% tax = Rs. 195 + Rs. 19.5 = Rs. 214.5
So, the customer pays Rs. 214.5 for a shirt the cost price of which was basically only Rs. 170 (Rs 110 + Rs. 40 + Rs. 30). Along the way the tax liability was passed on at every stage of transaction and the final liability comes to rest with the customer. This is called the Cascading Effect of Taxes where a tax is paid on tax and the value of the item keeps increasing every time this happens.
Action Cost 10% Tax Total
Buys Raw Material @ 100 100 10 110
Manufactures @ 40 150 15 165
Adds value @ 30 195 19.5 214.5
Total 170 44.5 214.5

In the case of Goods and Services Tax, there is a way to claim credit for tax paid in acquiring input. What happens in this case is, the individual who has paid a tax already can claim credit for this tax when he submits his taxes.

In our example, when the wholesaler buys from the manufacturer, he pays a 10% tax on his cost price because the liability has been passed on to him. Then he adds value of Rs. 40 on his cost price of Rs. 100 and this brings up his cost to Rs. 140. Now he has to pay 10% of this price to the government as tax. But he has already paid one tax to the manufacturer. So, this time what he does is, instead of paying Rs (10% of 140=) 14 to the government as tax, he subtracts the amount he has paid already. So, he deducts the Rs. 10 he paid on his purchase from his new liability of Rs. 14, and pays only Rs. 4 to the government. So, the Rs. 10 becomes his input credit.
When he pays Rs. 4 to the government, he can pass on its liability to the retailer. So, the retailer pays Rs. (140+14=) 154 to him to buy the shirt. At the next stage, the retailer adds value of Rs. 30 to his cost price and has to pay a 10% tax on it to the government. When he adds value, his price becomes Rs. 170. Now, if he had to pay 10% tax on it, he would pass on the liability to the customer. But he already has input credit because he has paid Rs.14 to the wholesaler as the latter’s tax. So, now he reduces Rs. 14 from his tax liability of Rs. (10% of 170=) 17 and has to pay only Rs. 3 to the government. And therefore, he can now sell the shirt for Rs. (140+30+17) 187 to the customer.
Action Cost 10% Tax Actual Liability Total
Buys Raw Material 100 10 10 110
Manufactures @ 40 140 14 4 154
Adds Value @ 30 170 17 3 187
Total 170
17 187
In the end, every time an individual was able to claim input tax credit, the sale price for him reduced and the cost price for the person buying his product reduced because of a lower tax liability. The final value of the shirt also therefore reduced from Rs. 214.5 to Rs. 187, thus reducing the tax burden on the final customer.
So essentially, Goods & Services Tax is going to have a two-pronged benefit. One, it will reduce the cascading effect of taxes, and second, by allowing input tax credit, it will reduce the burden of taxes and, hopefully, prices. 

GST Law in India – A Detailed History

GST is not a new phenomenon. It was first implemented in France in 1954, and since then many countries have implemented this unified taxation system to become part of a global whole. Now that India is adopting this new tax regime, let us look back at the how and when of the Goods and Services Tax and its history in the nation.
France was the world’s first country to implement GST Law in the year 1954. Since then, 159 other countries have adopted the GST Law in some form or other. In many countries, VAT is the substitute for GST, but unlike the Indian VAT system, these countries have a single VAT tax which fulfills the same purpose as GST.
In India, the discussion on GST Law was flagged off in the year 2000, when the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought the issue to the table. 
History of GST in India – Year by Year Events
gst

Summary

The idea behind having one consolidated indirect tax to subsume multiple currently existing indirect taxes is to benefit the Indian economy in a number of ways:
  • It will help the country’s businesses gain a level playing field
  • It will put us on par with foreign nations who have a more structured tax system
  • It will also translate into gains for the end consumer who not have to pay cascading taxes any more
  • There will now be a single tax on goods and services
In addition to the above,
  • The Goods and Services Tax Law aims at streamlining the indirect taxation regime. As mentioned above, GST will subsume all indirect taxes levied on goods and service, including State and Central level taxes. The GST mechanism is an advancement on the VAT system, the idea being that a unified GST Law will create a seamless nationwide market.
  • It is also expected that Goods and Services Tax will improve the collection of taxes as well as boost the development of Indian economy by removing the indirect tax barriers between states and integrating the country through a uniform tax rate.

Further Reading:


जानिए, क्या है पावन गुफा में मिलने वाली भस्म का रहस्य

mystery of bhasm in holy cave
श्री अमरनाथ की पवित्र गुफा में भगवान शंकर ने शिव धाम की प्राप्ति करवाने वाली परम पवित्र ‘अमर कथा’ भगवती पार्वती को सुनाई थी। जिसके लिए वे इस पवित्र गुफा में गए, जहां बर्फ से बने शिवलिंग से जुड़ी कथा को सुनाने के लिए माता पार्वती जी भगवान सदाशिव से कहती हैं, ‘‘प्रभो! मैं अमरेश महादेव की कथा सुनना चाहती हूं। मैं यह भी जानना चाहती हूं कि महादेव गुफा में स्थित होकर अमरेश क्यों और कैसे कहलाए?’’

सदाशिव भोलेनाथ माता पार्वती का प्रश्र सुनकर कहने लगे आदिकाल में ब्रह्मा, प्रकृति, अहंकार, स्थावर (पर्वतादि) जंगल (मनुष्य) संसार की उत्पत्ति हुई। इस क्रमानुसार देवता, ऋषि, पितर, गंधर्व, राक्षस, सर्प, यक्ष, भूतगण, कूष्मांड, भैरव, गीदड़, दानव आदि की उत्पत्ति हुई। इस तरह नए प्रकार के भूतों की सृष्टि हुई परंतु इंद्र आदि देवता सहित सभी मृत्यु के वश में थे।

देवता, भगवान सदाशिव के पास आए क्योंकि उन्हें मृत्यु का भय था। भय से त्रस्त सभी देवताओं ने भगवान भोलेनाथ की स्तुति की और कहा हमें मृत्यु बाधा करती है। आप कोई ऐसा उपाय बतलाएं जिससे मृत्यु हम लोगों को बाधा न करे। देवताओं की बात सुनकर भोलेनाथ स्वामी बोले मैं आप लोगों की मृत्यु के भय से रक्षा करूंगा। यह कहते हुए सदाशिव ने अपने सिर पर से चंद्रमा की कला को उतार कर निचोड़ा और देवगणों से बोले, यह आप लोगों के मृत्यु रोग की औषधि है।

उस चंद्रकला के निचोड़ने से पवित्र अमृत की धारा बह निकली और वह धारा बाद में अमरावती नदी के नाम से विख्यात हुई। चंद्रकला को निचोड़ते समय भगवान सदाशिव के शरीर पर जो अमृत बिंदु गिरे वे सूख कर पृथ्वी पर गिर पड़े। पावन गुफा में जो भस्म है वह इसी अमृत बिंदु के कण हैं।

कहते हैं सदाशिव भगवान देवताओं पर प्रेम न्यौछावर करते समय स्वयं द्रवीभूत हो गए। देवगण सदाशिव को जल स्वरूप देखकर उनकी स्तुति में लीन हो गए और बारम्बार नमस्कार करने लगे। भोलेनाथ ने दयायुक्त वाणी से देवताओं से कहा, तुमने मेरा बर्फ का लिंग शरीर इस गुफा में देखा है। इस कारण मेरी कृपा से आप लोगों को मृत्यु का भय नहीं रहेगा। अब तुम यहीं पर अमर होकर शिव रूप को प्राप्त हो जाओ। आज से मेरा यह अनादिलिंग शरीर तीनों लोकों में अमरेश के नाम से विख्यात होगा।

भगवान सदाशिव देवताओं को ऐसा वर देकर उस दिन से लीन होकर गुफा में रहने लगे। भगवान सदाशिव महाराज ने अमृत रूप सोमकला को धारण करके देवताओं की मृत्यु का नाश किया इसलिए तभी से उनका नाम अमरेश्वर प्रसिद्ध हुआ है।  

अमरनाथ गुफा में हैं अमर कबूतरों का जोड़ा, दर्शन मात्र से मिलता है पुण्य

 धरती का स्वर्ग कही जाने वाली कश्मीर घाटी में स्थित श्री अमरनाथ जी की पवित्र गुफा में प्रतिवर्ष बर्फ से बनने वाले प्राकृतिक हिमशिवलिंग की पूजा की जाती है। श्री अमरनाथ की पवित्र गुफा में भगवान शंकर ने शिव धाम की प्राप्ति करवाने वाली परम पवित्र ‘अमर कथा’ भगवती पार्वती को सुनाई थी। मान्यता है की अमरनाथ गुफा एक ऐसा स्थान है जहां भगवान शिव माता पार्वती के साथ कबूतर रूप में निवास करते हैं। इसी पवित्र गुफा में भगवान शिव और माता पार्वती कई युगों से कबूतर के रूप में विराजमान हैं। इस संदर्भ में कथा यह है कि एक समय माता पार्वती द्वारा अमर होने की कथा सुनने की जिद्द करने पर भगवान शिव शंकर पार्वती को लेकर इस स्थान पर आए।

अमरत्व की कथा माता पार्वती के अलावा कोई अन्य न सुन सके इसलिए भगवान शिव  ने मार्ग में अपने गले में सुशोभित नाग, माथे पर सजे हुए चंद्र को उतार कर रख दिया। इसके बाद पार्वती जी को साथ लेकर गुफा में प्रवेश किया।

शिव जी से अमर होने की कथा सुनते-सुनते माता पार्वती को नींद आ गई। इस दौरान उस गुफा में कबूतर के दो बच्चों ने जन्म लिया और उसने शिव जी से पूरी कथा सुन ली। जब शिव जी को इस बात का ज्ञान हुआ कि अमर होने की कथा कबूतरों ने सुन ली है तब उन्हें मारने के लिए आगे बढ़े।

कबूतरों ने शिव जी से कहा कि अगर आपने हमें मार दिया तो अमर होने की कथा झूठी साबित हो जाएगी। शिव जी ने तब उन कबूतरों को वरदान दिया कि तुम युगों-युगों तक इस स्थान पर शिव-पार्वती के प्रतीक बनकर निवास करोगे। अमरनाथ की गुफा में जिसे भी तुम्हारे दर्शन होंगे उन्हें शिव-पार्वती के दर्शन का पुण्य मिलेगा।
EDITED BY :ASHOK KOUL

Thursday, June 29, 2017

जानिए किसने खोजी थी बाबा अमरनाथ की गुफा?


इस साल अमरनाथ यात्रा 29 जून से शुरू होने जा रही हैं जोकि 7 अगस्त तक चलेगी। अमरनाथ की पवित्र गुफा में भगवान शंकर ने माता पार्वती को अमरकथा सुनाई थी, लेकिन क्या आपको पता है इस गुफा की खोज किसने की थी और बाबा का पहला दर्शन किसने किया था। आइए जानते है।
कुछ जानकारों का मानना है कि अमरनाथ गुफा का सबसे पहले पता 16वीं शताब्दी में एक मुसलमान गड़रिए को पता चला था जिसके बाद इस गुफा के बारें में लोगों को पता चला।
दरअसल मुसलमान गड़रिए एक दिन अपनी भेड़ों को चराते-चराते बहुत दूर निकल गया। जहां पर उसकी मुलाकात एक साधु से हुई।
मुलाकात में उस साधु ने उसे कोयले से भरी एक कांगड़ी दी। जब वह घर पंहुचा तो उसमें कोयले की जगह सोना मिला तो हैरान रह गया।
जब वह अगले दिन उस साधु का धन्यवाद देने के लिए लौटा तो वहां साधु के बजाए एक विशाल गुफा देखी। तभी से यह एक तीर्थ बन गया।

Thursday, June 22, 2017

NANDKISHOR ASTHAPAN, SEER JAGIR, SOPORE.

NANDKISHOR ASTHAPAN, SEER JAGIR, SOPORE.
The Nandkishor Asthapan is located at Seer Jagir, 5 km from Sopore. It is a Bhairava Mandir. The shrine is situated on the left bank of Vitasta. The shrine has besides the temple of Nandkishor, a spring, and four Chinar trees. A big congregation takes place on Nandkishor Jayanti on zeeth mavas.
There are several stories in the puranas about this nandikesvara. A sage, Salankayana by name, performed austerities to get a worthy son. Please with him, Visnu appeared before him; and lo! A baby figure exactly like Siva emerged out of him. This was nandikesvara.
According to another legend, the sage Silada performed a yajna to get a son who would be immortal. A brilliant lad, resembling Siva, suddenly appeared form the inner apartment of his house. He was Nandikesvara. Another story states that sage who performed severe austerities on the Munjavan peak of Mandara mountain was made the chief of his attendants by Siva, who gave him the name nandisvara or Nandikesvara.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Ragyna Shrine village Kachwa Muqam, Wagoora, Baramulla,

Ragyna Shrine in the village Kachwa Muqam, Wagoora, Baramulla, is situated on a slope with a spring and ten poplar trees. Pandits of this village used to go and offer Kshir (thickened milk) in the spring. Sh. Abdul Rashid Lone a retired Lecturer who is presently residing near the shrine disclosed that he has seen a white cat with earrings many a time, going towards the spring in wee hours of the morning. He further disclosed that a lion visits this shrine every Thursday. Sh. Abdul Rashid Lone further disclosed that some persons vandalized this shrine and in a month they were reduced from riches to rags.
Kachwa Muqam (Lat. 34-10 and Long. 74-28) is a village in the Kruhin Pargana, situated on the right bank of the Ningili stream, about 19 km from Baramulla. This village is situated on the slope of the Khrewa (Wudar). 15 well off KP families were residing in this village.

The Legends of Lakshmi Narayan Temple Badherwah

The Legends of Laxmi Narayan Temple Badherwah, Jammu

Jammu & Kashmir saw a Hindu Rajput Dynasty on the throne since the middle of the 19th century. The dogra Dynasty ruled Kashmir till princely state ceased to exist after the Independence of India. It was during the reign of last Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh that the Lakshmi Narayan temple was built.

The Lakshmi Narayan temple is one of the famous temples of Bhadarwah. This temple was built by a resident of Sarolbagh and Prime Minister of Maharaja Hari Singh Wazir Sobha Ram.

This temple was built about a century back. There is a big inn by the side of this splendid temple. It was built for the travellers.

In this temple very beautiful statues of Lord Vishnu & Goddess Laxmi made of white marble were installed.

There are many statues of different gods and goddess kept in small almirahs on the outer walls of the temple and a small path round the temple for the devotees who come to pay obeisance to Lord Vishnu & Goddess Laxmi.

This all adds the beauty of the temple. There is a big entrance gate, which is very high & wide. This grand gate also adds to the beauty of the temple. It is said that about one lakh rupees were spent in the construction of this complex in those days when the wage of a labourer was about some paisa.

It is not out of place to mention here that the currency in those days was in silver coins.

After the construction of temple and inns when the auspicious time of installation of statues came then Wazir Sobha Ram Ji arranged a grand function of “Yagna” havan and Bhandhara.

All the learned Brahmins of the area were invited to take part in this auspicious function. Before the start of “Yagna” Wazir Ji came to welcome the learned Pandits and found that Sangan Brahimins of village Chinote were not present there.

He inquired from the managing committee the reason of absence of Sangan Brahimins. The managing committee narrated the story of boycott.

Wazir Ji said that in the absence of Sangans Brahmins our “Yagna” would be incomplete. Therefore the boycott of these people will have to be done away with.

Resolving so he sent a team of dependable senior citizens to visit Chinote to request them to participate in the “ Yagna” .

On the request of Wazir Ji when all the Sangans came to participate. WazirJi welcomed them from the core of his heart and promised that he himself would go to the Vasuki Nag Ji temple and apologise for the crime of ending the boycott.

On the assurance of Wazir Ji Sangans participated in the “Yagna” and ate the food of “Bhandhara”. In this way centuries old enmity and boycott came to an end.