Dear Editor,
The government has reiterated its firm intention to unveil the new goods and services tax (GST) regime from 1 July. The business community has called for a later implementation date, citing their lack of preparedness for the new tax. In response, the government has announced certain concessions including relaxing the initial compliance calendar to file returns and suggesting that taxpayers will not face penalties or fees for delayed filing in the early months of the new regime. This news is certainly welcome, but it does not take away from the fact that unpreparedness still persists. There is no plausible or coherent justification as to why the government does not have the “luxury of time” to slightly defer the implementation of GST.
