On the ground in Bangalore, the clock stuck 12 and every retail shop started giving receipts with the simplified tax system. Im sure there will be hiccups ahead but the start looks pretty neat.
The Indian govt. should be given honorary entry to YC. The world's biggest startup is going lean.
A retail shop of Bangalore(metropolitan) doesn't speak for entire India. The shop you visited already had a computer/software but ground reality is much different among traders in tier II & III cities.
> The Indian govt. should be given honorary entry to YC. The world's biggest startup is going lean.
The government face-planted themselves miserably with demonetization experiment. They thought it would be easy to muscle everyone to use electronic payment without understanding the ground realities. The economy is performing below expectations solely due to it and they still haven't disclosed what they have achieved(good) with demonetization.
They could have planned the implementation in stages so that the transition could be done smoother. The same is going to happen with GST. They can be anything but sultans of implementation.
We Indians are so resilient that without traffic signals we adjust, during floods we help each other without expecting the government - so we will be ok eventually. Wish the government cared for its majority of the people instead of catering to elitist alone.
Is that really true though? Seems like the whole point of this was to surprise the market and force people into the banking system on short notice so then you can tax them.
But if you give people notice, then they have a chance to come up with alternative cash-like arrangements in advance so that when you take away their notes, they just switch to a different 'black money'-like asset.
Not saying this couldn't have been planned out better, but if you follow the logic then the 'big bang' change is inherent to what they're trying to do.
This article articulates my concern: http://www.dailyo.in/politics/demonetisation-noteban-six-mon...
You're completely missing the point of demonitization. Modi got elected partly on the promise of doing something about black money and corruption - which is what pulled down the previous government.
Demonitization was basically a way to demonstrate that he was keeping that promise. For months on the end, towns were filled with stories of the corrupt rich desperate trying to get rid of their unaccounted for cash and government officials getting raided.
In other words, it was primarily a political exercise designed to show he will take action if he makes a promise. The vicarious pleasure the common man got hearing about the discomfiture of the corrupt rich I reckon is more than sufficient to get his government re-elected and also give him some slack from people if the GST thing falls flat - given they trust him more due to demonetization.
I agree the common man can be easily be fooled by gimmicks and the BJP government is an expert in sugar coating gimmicks. Please read: http://www.dailyo.in/politics/demonetisation-noteban-six-mon...
I was just outlining that the political rationale is primary.
Today no one. Not one single person is taking cards or PayTm. If you wave a card in front in front of their face they ask you to withdraw cash from the nearby ATM and come. In fact its already a few months since I did a electronic transaction to buy anything near my home.
This whole act achieved nothing at the end.
Your best measure is Police constables, especially the traffic ones. They are back to asking bribes on the street. In Bangalore every 1 km has a police party doing this.
Who will suffer due to improper implementation of GST?. Not the super rich or rich but everyone else. GST requires monthly three returns to be filed in each operating state and an annual report. How will small traders cope up with this sort of requirement with no government initiative?. Please read: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/policy-trends/...
In the article you shared, there are mentions of celebrated economists siding with both camps. I will leave up to the chosen government to weigh in those opinions and make a move.
Coming to GST - the earlier tax system was much more complex and leaky. If your turnover is below 75 Lakhs (small traders) you can opt for composition scheme which is even simpler. If your turnover is higher, it should be fair to assume your business is big enough to have a computer operator who can file 3 returns (excel sheet I guess) every month with benefits of input credit.
How long will this "short term pain" last?
Invoices can be generated manually. Internet is required only to file the returns.
https://twitter.com/adhia03/status/881428128177901570 - Revenue Secretary, MoF
This is some day dreaming.
In a city like Bangalore, if it rains an hour. There are power cuts of up to 12 hours. Expecting people to invest in long back up UPS, internet infrastructure in every single part of India is bonkers.
To start with fix basic infrastructure first.
What's happening today is putting cart before the horse.