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phasing out of GST, uniform tax rates, modification of sales tax based incentives, merging of
multiple taxes (Madhavan S. , 2009).
In this paper we shall primarily discuss the affects of Goods and Services Tax on supply
chain in Indian companies. Initially, we shall discuss the evolution of GST in India to better
understand the reforms that have been brought in India over time. Further, discussion shall be
on the importance of supply chain in Indian context. Next section shall deal with the changes
in tax laws brought by GST that shall directly impact supply chain in Indian context. Finally,
there is section for post GST implementation changes and challenges in implementation.
Evolution of GST proposal in India
GST Tax is a value added tax which is expected to be implemented in India by April 2012
(wikipedia). France was the first country to introduce this system in 1954 (Lagadec, 2012). It
is planned to be comprehensive to all the goods and services in order to increase the tax base
including certain exemptions.
India is a growing economy with economy improving at higher rate every year. Economic
liberalizations, globalization and deregulations have been among the steps causing this
growth. Tax reforms also have been brought about in India from time to time. India has
moved from origin based system of taxation to destination based system of taxation (ICAI).
Moving from sales tax system to Value added tax at the state level has been an important
modern tax reform. GST is the next step to move towards consolidation of taxes on goods
and services and achieve true value added tax system that would encompass both the goods
and services at all levels.
There are different models for taxation of goods and services. All models either adopt one of
the following principles or are derived from a combination of:
The models may be either covering the covering all the goods and services or may be
selective exempting some of them. The taxes may be imposed at all the stages or specified
stages depending upon the model. This combination results in variety of models that are
adopted across various countries. Majority of the countries have moved on to the destination
based taxation system as it leads to better compliance and reduction in cascading effect.
Union
Budget
the
second deadline
time
announced
that
India
should
move
first
discussion
the
Goods
and
Services
proposed
July 2011
April 2011
GST
April 2012
New chairman
April 2010
of ECSFM on
GST appointed
Introduction to
GST missed its
2007-08
first deadline
The
2006-07
Empowered
Committee of State
Finance
Ministers
(ECSFM) agreed to
prepare a roadmap to
introduce
national
Source:KPMG Report
The GST was first proposed in India in 2006-07 with a target of being implemented till
April1, 2010. The above figure puts together the milestones in the evolution of GST since
2006-07 to the next decided target of 2012. The tentative decisions on the proposed
framework of GST, emerging from Discussion papers, can be summarized as follows:
Introduction of Dual GST enabling the Centre and States to simultaneously tax
transactions
Taxation of inter-State stock transfers of goods
Proposed rate of 16 percent for services and 12 to 20 percent for goods
Rationalization of the indirect tax structure by subsuming the key (but not all) taxes
Availability of credits across goods and services
Alcohol, Petroleum products and Natural Gas to be kept out of the GST net
(Saigal, 2011)
Manufacturer
Wholesalers
Retailers
Customer
Service Provider
Fig. GST is paid at each step in the supply chain of goods and services
GST is collected on value-added goods and services at every stage of sale or purchase in the
entire supply chain. GST which is paid on the procurement of goods and services can be set
off against that payable on the supply of goods or services. But being the last person in the
supply chain, the end consumer has to bear this tax and so, in many respects, GST is like a
last-point retail tax (thecastreet). It probably considered among the biggest tax overhaul
system, which independent India has seen. Though the implementation date of GST is still
unclear, but it is expected to be in process as soon as possible (labnol).
In Indian context, provisions of Constitution specifically reserve power to impose tax on
specific activities to specific level of government e.g. tax on import of goods can be imposed
by Union government only whereas tax on sale of goods involving movement of goods
within the state can be imposed by State Governments only (Saini). This means it is very
difficult to get the GST structure as state GST or Central GST as it will require modification
in the constitution. In India dual GST is proposed means taxation at both state and central
level. Its main aim is to reduce the burden occurring due to multiplicity of taxes at several
stages of supply chain.
Auto manufacturers currently pay a 12.5% CENVAT at manufacturing level and add 1% CST
to it when the product travels to another state. Finally the 12.5% VAT is paid when it is sold.
With the implementation of GST in the range of 16-20% potential cost savings may be
brought about which can be reflected in the price of the final product sold to the consumer.
(Parkar, Goods and Services Tax, 2009)
Manufacturing firms also consume services for which they dont get CENVAT credit against
the service tax which is paid by them. Under GST, manufacturing firms would get the credit
of the GST that is instilled in their purchase of services. Thus further potential cost reduction
is possible which would in turn lead to increase of demand.
The FMCG sector in the Indian economy is estimated to reach to USD 43bn by 2013 at 12%
Y-O-Y growth rate. With the implementation of GST and retail FDI together the FMCG
industry will improve the growth rate reaching the USD 50bn mark by 2013. The proposed
GST can mean a 10-12% reduction in retail prices of FMCG products. (Parkar, Goods and
Services Act, 2009)
The implementation of GST by 2010 will result in potential cost savings for manufacturers,
retailers etc. These cost savings will be passed on to the final consumer which will lead to
higher consumption leading to expansion in domestic demand, consequently leading to
growth in the Indian GDP.
Affects on supply chain in present Indian taxation system
Supply chains are being managed with sourcing of raw materials and distribution of finished
goods to different locations in the country and outside. The senior executives have come to
recognize that corporate capability in supply-chain management is an important lever of
enterprise transformation.
The effective coordination, utilization and management of assets can help the enterprise to
contain costs with improved productivity. A survey conducted by the University of Maryland
Supply Chain Management Center found that 20 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have
chief logistics officers (CLOs) reporting directly to the CEOclear evidence of this areas
growing stature as a critical lever of corporate transformation forming integrated supply chain
management , the epic centre of business transformation (Sandor Boyson).
Supply Chains are impacted by many factors which may either be within the organization or
market and political based. Some of the key factors affecting it may be listed as market
responsiveness, fiscal costs, changing customer preferences, cost efficiencies and competitive
intensities. Fiscal costs are important in formulation of an efficient supply chain. Companies
are moved to redesign and optimize their manufacturing units and distribution networks in
order to get fiscal benefits.
Currently there are few issues in the taxing system in India which prevents efficient supply
chain network design by the companies. CST (Central sales tax) is one such hindrance. It
imposes irrecoverable interstate tax due to which companies form stocking points in different
states in order to be prevented from paying it. This in various cases results in longer
transportation costs, increased compliance costs. Local taxes like octroi, entry tax and cess
add to the input costs for any product (Madhavan S. ).
Impacts on Supply Chain post GST implementation
With implementation of GST in India in near future, several changes are likely to occur
which would have significant impact on the supply chain. It is expected to follow a dual GST
structure - State GST and Central GST. Central GST chain is possibly expected to extend till
the retail level. State GST consists of Sales Tax, State cesses and surcharges on goods and
services, Octroi, Entry tax, taxes on lotteries, betting, gambling and purchase tax as the main
components. Central GST on the other hand would incorporate Central excise duties,
additional customs duty (Countervailing Duty - CVD), surcharges, allied levies and service
tax as the key taxes. It is expected that Octroi and Entry tax shall be ruled out. Post GST
inventory will carry Central GST and new GST rates credit. The tax on cross-border sales and
supplies which is imposed as per CST is expected to be removed (Asim Kumar Dasgupta,
2009).
In the present scenario, service tax is required to be paid on logistics services during
distribution and this tax is not off-settable against CENVAT. With GST chain being extended,
it shall allow offset in post manufacturing through input tax credit. This shall lead to decrease
in logistics outsourcing cost for the 10.3% service tax which is charged by logistics
companies against Central GST liability (Anil Rajpal, GST: Impact on th supply chain).
This will encourage outsourcing in supply chains and provide greater impulse to 3PLs. The
3PLcompanies are have already registered good growth in India for these companies help in
getting full truck load which in turn reduces the per unit cost of transportation of goods.
The post GST is expected to carry Central GST and inter-state GST input credit. The tax rates
may also get changed for many products. The operating firms will be boosted to reduce their
pre GST inventory having less input credits.
Octroi and entry tax are not in line with the spirit of GST although in some cases entry taxes
are VATable. These taxes discourage the reverse flow of goods which again is a hindrance to
efficient supply chain. These taxes are proposed to be removed in GST regime which in
future would encourage reverse logistics and location of warehouses in entry tax and octroi
zones (Jagtap, 2009). There are two possible amendable scenarios possible in proposed GST:
CST rates would reduce to zero with no carry-over of input credit across states
Stock-transfers are disallowed/taxed and inter-state sales are taxed with carry-over
allowed
In both cases, companies would no longer be required to have a warehouse in every state
just to facilitate stock transfers and avoid CST. Below is shown through illustration how
CST led to inefficient supply chains and increased transportation costs.
Case 1
Warehouse W1
Border
Plant
Customer 1
Customer 2
Case 2
Border
Warehouse W3
Plant
Customer 2
Customer 1
Warehouse W2
without any increase in cost due to removal of interstate CST. This in turn reduces secondary
freight cost. Further, better and more optimized network designs may be developed for low
logistics cost.
It is seen several times when the SKUs that customer require may be lying idle at another
warehouse in area far away. It causes more problems for slow moving products. With
aggregated inventory at few large warehouses, the planning and assortment availability for
slow moving SKUs of a product improves.
The post GST strategies would then include strategic location of warehouses and logistics
networks would also move towards being critical transportation hubs. The decision for
warehouse locations would give more importance to availability of road/rail, infrastructure
etc. Most states have imposed the system consisting of check posts near its road borders. The
transporters along with the logistics companies have to undergo the pain of carrying duly
filled state permit documents while entering any state. Small errors that are usually caused in
these forms due to which severe penalties are imposed which are calculated on the net value
of the goods by authorities present at the check post. Sometimes, it leads to detention of
goods for several days. This results in increased lead time and sometimes loss of products
with lower shelf life. The tax reforms proposed by GST expects decrease in number of these
check posts.
Methodology for retaining or closure of a depot/ stock transfer point
Although, it may seem to be easy to say that post GST implementation, the number of
warehouses shall be lowered due to removal of interstate central sales tax but there are
certain factors which must be considered before taking any such decisions. Removal of
stocking points in different states may sometimes result into higher lead times and higher
secondary freight cost.
A methodology is developed hereby which can be used to decide upon the warehouses to be
removed and the new network to be set up. Initially, the parameters have been decided
which shall determine about the utility level of a warehouse. These parameters have been
decided after going through distribution policies of various companies operating in India
and exploring several research papers on effective warehousing. Following is the
methodology in the flow chart form in order to select or reject the depots in the distribution
network of a company.
Service Levels: The service level of a depot may be determined through the
questionnaire given below. This questionnaire may be sent to all stock points to get
responses on various questions, keeping the aim of their future service levels.
i) No of transporters available and eligible for transportation of goods in same category
ii) Transporters' frequency of transporting goods
iii) Area covered by transporters
iv) Do transporters transport (or capable of transporting) to cities in other States from
the location
v) Availability of transporters
vi) Trustworthiness of transporters
vii) Issues faced with delivery/acknowledgement of goods/receipts
c) No. of warehouses handled by each depot: This factor takes into account the efforts of the
CFA/Depot in delivering the goods, replenishing stocks , payment collection , handling
sales returns and other related work
d) Inventory Levels: The inventory levels at the warehouses must be low in order to reduce
the administrative expenses under various heads. However, higher inventory levels leads
to better availability and lower lead time of goods. Further, the damage and expiry of
goods must be recorded as a ratio of median inventory level maintained throughout the
year.
e) Distance from nearest depot: The distance matrix must be established which determines
the nearby depots which shall cater to the demands of the depot which may be closed.
f)
Expenses: The total expenses which mean Fixed+Operating expenses as a ratio of total
sales must be recorded.
Initially all the depots may be compared on the expenses to sales ratio. This would help in
short listing of depots whose expenses to sales ratio exceed a pre-decided level. For eg. All
the depots having expenses to sales ratio more than 5% or the 10 depots with maximum
expense to sale ratios must be recorded. After short listing of the depots, the expense incurred
by the nearby depots to cater to the warehouses covered by these depots (Short listed depots)
is determined. The expense to sales ratio for the added load on the other depots is recorded
along with their capacity. Finally, three to five depots are shortlisted with the lowest expense
to sale ratio required by nearby depot. Finally, the priority for closing the depot is decided by
the rating based on the service level maintained, cost per shipper, number of warehouses
served and inventory level maintained.
If we consider linear programming technique, the following expression holds good.
N
E- Total Expenses for ith depot for a specified year. It consists of fixed expense, maintenance
expense, cost per shipper, transportation expense, damaged goods expense etc.
S-Sales for ith depot for a specified year
i- ith depot
N-Total number of depots
W- Number of warehouses covered under ith depot
Constraints:
Service Level for ith depot >= SEi (Sepcified minimum service level for ith depot)
Inventory Level for ith depot <=L (Specified minimum inventory level for ith depot)
Percentage of demand satisfied>=D (Specified minimum percentage of total demand
satisfied)
Demand fulfilled from ith depot<=Ci (Maximum capacity for ith depot)
On closing a depot, the expenses from the nearby depots shall rise due to increased demand
to be fulfilled. If it is less than the expenses incurred on the closed depot possible without
compromising with any of constraints, then it may be closed.
Another method that can be used is internet based DEA (Data Envelopemnt Anaysis) for
warehouses. The approach to benchmark the warehouses here follows the paper on iDEAs-W
by Leon F. McGinnis, Wen-Chih Chen, Paul Griffin, Gunter Sharp, T. Govindaraj, Doug
Bodner.
With a standard web browser, a prospective user connects to the iDEAs-W website, registers
and creates a password, then provides a relatively small amount of data. Once the data have
been entered, iDEAs-W computes the DEA score and reports it back to the user. The entire
process of entering data takes from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the proficiency of the
user. Computing the DEA score requires only a few seconds of server time, and the response
time to the user is usually less than one minute, depending on network traffic. iDEAs-W
provides capability for "what-if" analyses by the user, by modifying the resource and output
values to see the impact on DEA score. (Leon F. McGinnis, 2002, p. 3)
The concept used follows the DEA model developed in early nineties by Hackman and
Frazelle (1993), and analyzed in detail in Hackman, et al (2001). The proposed DEA model
had the resource inputs and production outputs identified in Table given..
DEA Model Inputs and Outputs
Resource Inputs
Production Outputs
Lines shipped
Warehouse area
Accumulation
Storage function
Accumulation is defined as the total lines shipped minus the total orders shipped, and is a
measure of the extent of accumulation/sortation required. It's an "output" because it
"assembles" customer orders.
Storage function is the least "obvious" of the output measures. It is intended to characterize
both the mix of storage types and the space actually needed for storage; it is computed by
iDEAs-W from user supplied values for the number of broken case SKUs (B), number of
pallet locations (P), and proportion of broken case lines. The exact form of the calculation of
the storage function (S) performed by iDEAs-W is:
S= a*sqrt(B)+(1-a)*[sqrt(25*P) + sqrt(floor storage sq ft)]
where a=(broken case lines picked)/(total lines picked).
(Leon F. McGinnis, 2002, p. 4)
The DEA model provides score for a warehouse/depot on which it has been applied and
reports as percentage. If the score comes out to be 75%, it may be interpreted that the
candidate warehouse is not using more than 75%. It also means that candidate warehouse can
reduce the usage of resource by 25%. It is hence a useful and convenient tool to measure
performance of the warehouse against other warehouse. The inputs like distance from nearby
depots, fixed expense for expansion and outputs like expense of transportation, capacity
utilization can be added in the DEA table in order to obtain the relative comparison amongst
the warehouses. The mathematical analysis required by DEA now can be computed using any
one of a number of commercially available software packages.
Challenges for GST implementation
GST as discussed is going to be the next big tax reform in India. Constitutional amendments
and consensus building are among the pre GST steps that must be successfully performed. A
new model is to be designed that shall ensure smooth flow of all the goods and services and is
acceptable to all. The Government and the empowered committee of State Finance Ministers
are putting in their efforts to provide right direction. In order to meet the next deadline, the
Government needs to mobilise its infrastructure to undertake internal re-organization of roles
and responsibilities, develop business processes and audit manuals, train its resources and
achieve a required degree of IT enabled environment (Deloitte, 2009).
The challenge is not confined to drafting a GST model but its proper implementation and
smooth transition from present tax system to GST regime would be the key to success of
GST. The dual GST model will set off certain industry from Centre to States which would
reduce revenue generation for the Centre. Centre in that case will depend on revenue from the
revenue rich states to share with the low revenue earning states. Proper revenue accounting,
collection, technological up gradation for State wise revenue allocation is a challenge for
future. It must be ensured that the States get their necessary revenue for proper governance
and development. (Haribhakti, p. 2)
As GST model is based on destination based taxation, the recipient state has to levy the tax as
per the law of dispatching state. This shall be a source of problem as there is no uniform law
and rates across India. The exporting state hence must credit the recipient state for the tax
collected. For the Governments it would be a challenge to allocate revenue to the respective
States without proper administrative and supervisory machinery. (Haribhakti, p. 3)
The banks as an intermediary can play a key role in collection and transfer of revenue to
respective States in Dual GST model. The person collecting the tax on his supply in case of
inter-State transactions should deposit the tax in the account of the State where the supply has
been made. Then on the basis of revenue reports of the respective Governments, the banks
can allocate the revenue to the respective States or the Central Government, as the case may
be. The banking system needs to be revamped for this purpose. The challenge can be met by
proper training, up gradation of tax administration with technological interface. (Haribhakti,
p. 4)
Presently, there are a large number of exemptions for custom duty under Foreign Trade
Policy. On moving to GST, such schemes will be affected and it shall lead to uncertainty
over the businesses leading to confusion and administrative issues. A large number of bonds
executed by the importer and exporters with the Government will have to be suitably
amended for changed liability in view of new GST.
Efficient computerized systems for checking and auditing revenues need to be set up by the
administrators in order to achieve successful implement of GST. Printing of VAT invoices
must be upgraded to have the ability of anti-counterfeit. This would require well trained
personnel to operate the computerized system. Apart from it, they need to have good basic
knowledge about GST.
There is a choice for single rate or multi rate VAT. If differentiated rates are chosen by the
government, tax rate may be imposed less on necessities and high on luxury goods. It may
increase the administrative costs hence reducing the revenue to the Government. If
Government uses single rate, it shall affect the poorest in the country. Choosing the most
suitable tax rate and determining the goods to be exempted is a big challenge ahead (Zolt,
2003).
The small businesses usually do not have proper system to keep accounting records. But, post
GST implementation will require them to maintain their accounting records. For example,
under the Singapore GST law, every GST registered trader has to keep the several accounting
records and source documents for at least 5 years. This makes business tough for small
businessmen (The Law Society of Singapore: Tax Imlications for new partners and sole
proprietors).
In a research carried out for effect of GST transition on small businesses in Australia, it was
found that for the two smallest businesses surveyed, their compliance costs amounted to over
3% of the firms reported annual turnover. Significant on-going record keeping and
accounting costs requirement by small businesses in order to meet their GST obligations was
found (Dr. John Breen).
Conclusion
India is waiting for the next big tax reform as GST for which the deadline presently is April,
2010. It promises to transit the logistics and transportation industries to the next level of
growth. Being inclined towards destination based taxation, GST reduces the increase in tax
due to the cascading effect. There are several post GST implications like Supply Chain Reengineering, reorganizing countrys transportation network, growth of 3PL and 4PL
companies, improved service levels and skill up gradation. GST drafted in India has proposed
few crucial changes in tax laws which would have surmount effects on the supply chain
structure of several companies. Few changes in strategies of depot selection and operation
may be required during the GST transition. Some methodologies have been discussed in the
paper which would give proper direction to be followed for cost reduction in supply chain.
Though GST aims to create a unified market across India, there have been several challenges
faced by the GST pre implementation committee which have been discussed. The consensus
among the Centre and States shall be critical in finalizing the model which shall be a stepping
stone for implementation of GST across India.
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