Taking GST head-on

India’s most ambitious tax reform, often regarded as a ‘game-changer’, Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to change the way India does business. However, not many people are aware about how tax will be calculated or what the dos and don’ts are. Hyderabad-based K. Vihari and his team has a solution to the taxpayers’ problems. The company, PayMyGST.com, will provide an integrated end-to-end user software solution to calculate the GST for everyone.

The 23-year-old cost accountant thinks that GST will make life easier. “The proposed switch-over to a more comprehensive GST regime will be a paradigm shift from the present tax setup, and is going to change market dynamics significantly in an integrated nation-wide marketplace. Most of the existing indirect taxes shall be replaced by GST, making the lives of taxpayers so much easier. Although there may be an element of resistance from the public initially, it’s only going to benefit them in the long run,” says Vihari.

Talking about the genesis of the company, he says, “I was going through the newspaper when an article caught my eye. It was an article on how the GST Network (GSTN) was going to allow third party software service providers for all GST filing needs, and I could picture the next 10 years of my life.  I collaborated with my uncle, who heads a leading software company.”

“Our start-up offers an integrated and end-to-end user interactive web/mobile enabled solution for GST reporting that can be used in conjunction with any source system. It also offers GST consultancy services,” he adds.

However, many companies are still struggling to understand the entire GST structure. Ask Vihari what kind of research he had to do and he quips, “The main area of research was the market impact of GST and what we could do to make that transition easier for people. Identifying our differentiating features was another uphill battle as the government kept trying to level the field. Going through the law, word by word, was as painstaking as it was fun.”

Co-founder of a company at just 23, Vihari was born and brought up in Hyderabad and later moved to Chennai. He says that in his free time, he likes to engage in sports. “In fact, I was the captain of the basketball team of my college. I am also into singing,” he says.