It does not matter where we live, we need to pay taxes to the local authorities. It is essential for the government to collect taxes from the residents to run the nation in a responsible manner. One can gather taxes from various types of channels these days. This consists of federal and state government taxes, direct as well as indirect taxes, etc.
What is Tax?
Tax can be defined as a monetary charge or obligatory fee that has been imposed by the government or an individual in order to raise funds for public work projects providing amenities and infrastructure. The funds will be distributed to other public expenditure initiatives after the collection. As per the regulations, one has to face severe repercussions in case he fails to contribute or does not give his consent to pay taxes.
Types of Taxation in India
Generally speaking, there are 2 types of taxes, namely, direct and indirect tax.
Direct taxes
When a tax is paid to the imposing body (typically the government) directly by an individual or organization, we call it direct taxes. This tax cannot be transferred to other entities or individuals and the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) will overlook them as well. The good thing is that it will be feasible to receive some benefits while paying direct taxes at present.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes will be accountable for handling matters pertaining to the collection, imposition, as well as formulation of various direct tax policies.
Direct taxes are paid by a taxpayer to the authorities for different reasons such as personal property tax, real property tax, taxes on assets, income tax, fringe benefits tax, capital gains, as well as gift tax.
Indirect taxes
The term “indirect tax” comprises multiple definitions. In most cases, it refers to taxes like value-added tax, sales tax, and goods and services tax. These are collected by a middleman (for example, a retail outlet) from a person who is going to bear the tax’s economic burden in the long run (for instance, the consumer).
A tax return is filed by the middleman and he will also remit the gathered tax to the authorities. While buying a service or product, you will be paying the price of the item along with the tax. As a result, you are paying tax to the government indirectly.
How Taxes are Charged?
Direct taxes such as income tax will be levied on the salaries of people or profits accrued from businesses. These are paid to the government directly. On the other hand, indirect taxes are included in the price of services or commodities. So, when something is purchased by you, you are going to pay GST or sales tax which will be submitted to the government by the vendor.
The government charging the tax will depend on the type of tax. Income tax, the recently launched GST, and customs duty on the import of items will be handled by the central government. State governments will levy taxes on properties, agricultural income, plus sales within the state. Finally, local entities might be capable of gathering property tax for services such as water supply.
What do public facilities and services mean?
By the term “public facilities” we refer to those essential facilities that everyone has the right to enjoy. Some examples of these types of facilities consist of educational centers, healthcare, sanitation facilities, public transportation, and so on. It is the government that provides these public facilities right now. It is essential for all the citizens of a country to be able to access these benefits or services irrespective of their economic or social status. On most occasions, these will satisfy the basic requirements of human beings and many people will be able to share them as well.
What occurs to the consumption tax that was paid at the store?
Once the consumption tax is paid by a consumer at a retail outlet, it is the retailer who is going to collect the tax. He is going to act as the middleman between the government and the consumer. The retailer will file a tax return when the period ends while detailing the total amount of the tax that has been gathered.
Following this, the retailer will remit the tax that has been collected to the concerned authority. Thus, the consumer is going to pay the tax in the long run. These tax revenues will be used by the government for funding different infrastructure projects and public services thus making a contribution to the social and economic development of the nation as a whole.
Taxes and Store Management
Every store management requires effective management of taxes to make sure that it complies with regulatory specifications while maintaining financial health too. It is essential for store managers to compute and gather applicable taxes accurately like GST on every taxable transaction. For this, it will be imperative to implement powerful point-of-sales systems that will be able to apply the proper tax rates automatically depending on the existing legislation.
It will be essential to train the employees on tax procedures regularly along with updates in tax regulations to stay away from making mistakes while improving operational efficiency. On top of this, store managers ought to maintain the records of all transactions carefully to facilitate precise tax returns on time.
It will be possible to avoid penalties on taxes by complying with tax regulations and it will likewise foster the faith of the consumers by guaranteeing transparent pricing. On top of this, store managers will be able to predict monetary performance in a better way with the help of effective management of taxes and they can also manage the flow of cash. In this way, they will play an essential role in the overall stability and prosperity of the business.
Conclusion
Various types of taxation in India come with advantages as well as disadvantages. However, we cannot deny that taxes will be imperative for raising money. While it will be possible for affluent people to pay direct taxes, the underprivileged will be capable of making some contribution via indirect taxes.