New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS): In yet another attempt to bring taxpayers and tax authorities closer to each other by way of better understanding of the tax systems, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has launched a creative contest namely "GST-n-You" that will allow people to come up with their own videos and graphics on various recent initiatives and reforms on GST.
The creative materials will not only stand a chance to win cash rewards but selected entries would also being used for public education and awareness campaigns of the government.
The initiative is in line with a GST lottery introduced earlier that also looked to build linkages between taxpayers, authorities and the new tax system by making every bill under GST a price-winning lottery ticket providing a chance to win between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
The GST-n-You initiative has invited creative entries in form of videos (animation, tutorials, short-films) of 30-120 seconds or static graphics on GST choosing any topic from GST - one nation, one tax, one market to GST and reduced taxes on MSMEs, GST and reduction of monthly household budget and fact file giving how's and when of the indirect tax system.
The Finance ministry has kept the new contest open to all the Indian citizen who can send multiple entries and also use some of their existing creating material hosted on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The contest is open now and entries can be sent till October 15 via email to gstnmedia@gstn.org.in.
To make the contest get real creative content it has been emphasised that only original work of the participant will be considered and in this regard a declaration would need to be given about the originality.
GSTN has decided to reward the best entry with a prize money of Rs 1 lakh while four second best entries would get Rs 50,000 each and 20 third best entries Rs 10,000 each.
A tax official said that the contest will help bring taxpayers closer to the tax system and also help in removing several misgivings that people may have on GST.
"It is the most pragmatic and user friendly tax system and this word should come across strongly," the official added.