India welcomes thousands of foreign tourists every year. People from across the world visit India to explore the nature, culture and history that prevails here. The Indian Government will soon begin a pilot project wherein foreign tourists will receive the GST returns after shopping locally in India. According to the Integrated GST Act, it provides a refund ‘on goods or products to be taken out of the country by foreign tourists. The tourist, however, has to be someone who is a non-resident of India and has not been living in India for the past six months.
GST Returns For Foreign Tourists In India: What Do Other Countries Follow?
According to the other countries’ rules, the GST or VAT is usually refunded by the host country. The products or goods are usually used outside the country, in this case. The rule here is understood by the fact that airports have duty-free shops too. As per official sources, the government will soon initiate this process of refunding the GST in a pilot project. The stores which will come under this rule will include certain stores, like emporiums etc. Further stores will be added, based on the feedback and experience of both parties – host & guest.
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Hear It From The GST Experts: From Media Reports
After hearing about the implementation of such an initiative, the GST experts and tax experts have predicted that more time will be needed for its execution. They are of the view that certain policies and rules have to be laid down before the initiative is laid out for tourists in India. There have to be necessary changes made on invoicing of the GST receipts and a lot more needs to be executed before it is finally rolled out.
They are also of the view that there might be discrepancies in the system, for which measures and certain foolproof systems need to be put into place. Every provision for the GST return for foreign tourists needs to be laid down carefully. As this will ensure that there is no potential misuse or embezzlement. As experts ponder on the efficiency of the systems, there are also others who are of the point of view, that the system should be a hassle-free one.
After all, we do not want our country guests’ to be suffering from slow processing of GST returns or facing other difficulties.
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