Apex indirect tax body CBEC will be renamed as the Central Board of Indirect Tax (CBIT), once the new national tax framework kicks in from April 1, next year, as per the draft dealing in GST organisational structure prepared by the Centre.
Headed by a secretary-level officer, CBIT will implement the rules, including exemptions and threshold, to be set by the GST Council, which is chaired by the Union Finance Minister, and has state finance ministers as its members.
The government plans to implement the new indirect tax regime Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2017. GST will subsume central excise, service tax and other local levies, including VAT and octroi.
A revenue department official said the organisational structure of GST is being worked out and CBEC will be renamed. To give effect to this, the Centre is reworking the composition of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to make it more comprehensive.
CBIT will consist of six members, who will look after Customs, policy and IT, central excise and legal issues, training and litigation. Besides, an additional secretary of the department of revenue, who will be secretary to the GST Council, will be a CBIT member for Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) related matters.
As per the draft blueprint, the entire country will be divided into six regions — northern, southern, eastern, western, north-eastern and central — and will be headed by a principal commissioner-level officer.
Published 11 September 2016, 15:55 IST