“Government may consider anti-profiteering clause to ensure benefits of GST reach consumers”, screamed a headline in a business newspaper
a couple days after the constitutional amendment pertaining to GST was
cleared by Rajya Sabha, removing the biggest hurdle for the process to
take off. The intent of the government is to
save the common man from price escalations that may arise from the
passage of GST, some of which can be attributed to profiteering. It is
ironical that such a fear should arise when the underlying premise is
the promise of a simplified tax regime, and therefore lower cost of
compliance, in turn leading to increased compliance and a simpler
administration combining the multitude of agencies involved in
enforcement.
