<p>A day after the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the government on Thursday announced its implementation roadmap, but remained non-committal on a date for its rollout and what will be the GST rate.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The government is working to rollout the GST as reasonably quick as possible. It is always good to set a stiff target,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, while interacting with mediapersons a day after the Upper House approved the historic Constitution amendment bill paving the way for a complete overhaul of the indirect tax regime.<br /><br />On the GST rate, the finance minister said the soon-to-be set up GST Council will take a call. Jaitley also played his cards close to his chest on whether the supporting pieces of legislation would come in the form of a Financial Bill or a Money Bill. He said the GST rate will be optimal, but way above the 18% demanded by the Opposition Congress because the states stand to lose on a GST rate as low as 18%. Rates would come down from 25%-30% now, but not at 18%. That will lead to loss of revenues.<br /><br />To a question on the inflationary impact of the GST on the economy, Jaitley said: “Over the long term, tax rates will come down, and if tax rates come down, then it is natural that many commodities will see lowering of prices. In the coming days, we will try that sooner we complete the roadmap and implement it.”<br /><br />Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, while making a presentation on the GST roadmap, said the Centre was expecting 16 states to approve the GST within the next 30 days. He said that by December, all the back-end and front-end IT systems required for the GST are expected to be ready, followed by testing. He said about 60,000 officers will be trained across India and a wide outreach programme will be launched for trade and industry to understand the GST.<br /><br />He, however, listed seven challenges which need to be dealt with for the smooth implementation of the GST. These include calculation of the revenue base of the Centre and states and the compensation requirements, the structure of the GST rates, the list of exemptions, formation of consensus on the Model GST Bill, threshold limits, compounding limits and cross empowerment to mitigate the ill-effects of dual control.<br /><br />The government also decided to tread carefully on setting the service tax rates under the GST as service tax revenues contribute almost 60% to the country’s economy at present.<br />DH News Service<br /><br />Establishment of Legal Framework<br />Preparation of IT infrastructure<br />Change Management:<br />Training of officials & staff<br />Outreach and consultation with trade and industry<br />GST maybe rolled out on April 1, 2017</p>
<p>A day after the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the government on Thursday announced its implementation roadmap, but remained non-committal on a date for its rollout and what will be the GST rate.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The government is working to rollout the GST as reasonably quick as possible. It is always good to set a stiff target,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, while interacting with mediapersons a day after the Upper House approved the historic Constitution amendment bill paving the way for a complete overhaul of the indirect tax regime.<br /><br />On the GST rate, the finance minister said the soon-to-be set up GST Council will take a call. Jaitley also played his cards close to his chest on whether the supporting pieces of legislation would come in the form of a Financial Bill or a Money Bill. He said the GST rate will be optimal, but way above the 18% demanded by the Opposition Congress because the states stand to lose on a GST rate as low as 18%. Rates would come down from 25%-30% now, but not at 18%. That will lead to loss of revenues.<br /><br />To a question on the inflationary impact of the GST on the economy, Jaitley said: “Over the long term, tax rates will come down, and if tax rates come down, then it is natural that many commodities will see lowering of prices. In the coming days, we will try that sooner we complete the roadmap and implement it.”<br /><br />Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, while making a presentation on the GST roadmap, said the Centre was expecting 16 states to approve the GST within the next 30 days. He said that by December, all the back-end and front-end IT systems required for the GST are expected to be ready, followed by testing. He said about 60,000 officers will be trained across India and a wide outreach programme will be launched for trade and industry to understand the GST.<br /><br />He, however, listed seven challenges which need to be dealt with for the smooth implementation of the GST. These include calculation of the revenue base of the Centre and states and the compensation requirements, the structure of the GST rates, the list of exemptions, formation of consensus on the Model GST Bill, threshold limits, compounding limits and cross empowerment to mitigate the ill-effects of dual control.<br /><br />The government also decided to tread carefully on setting the service tax rates under the GST as service tax revenues contribute almost 60% to the country’s economy at present.<br />DH News Service<br /><br />Establishment of Legal Framework<br />Preparation of IT infrastructure<br />Change Management:<br />Training of officials & staff<br />Outreach and consultation with trade and industry<br />GST maybe rolled out on April 1, 2017</p>
