GST to rollout anytime between April 1-Sept 16: Arun Jaitley

Shobhit Kalra
Published on: 17 Dec 2016 11:41 AM GMT
GST to rollout anytime between April 1-Sept 16: Arun Jaitley
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GST to rollout anytime between April 1-Sept 16: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) can come into effect anytime between April 1 and September 16, 2017.

Following the signs of government going to miss the GST rollout target of April 1, Jaitley clarified that unlike income tax, GST is a transactional levy that can be implemented anytime throughout a financial year.

He claimed that GST will be implemented in accordance with the constitutional amendment legislation that will form a national sales tax by subsuming the central and state levies.

He further stated that the GST Council has already resolved 10 issues and only one, which belongs to administration of tax, is pending.

"It is a transactional tax and not an income tax. Transactional tax can start in any part of the financial year and therefore, the range of timing when it has to come into force because of constitutional necessity is April 1, 2017 to September 16, 2017," said the at the annual general meeting (AGM) of FICCI here.

He also asserted that the bill is as beneficial for the people and the taxation system as early it is implemented.

Also Read: GST introduction target may be missed due to hurdle created by WB

Since the landmark constitutional amendment got Parliament's clearance in August and thumbs up from more than half of the state legislatures by mid-September, a number of key decision have been taken by the GST Council, which is headed by Arun Jaitley and comprises state representatives.

Jaitley pointed out certain types of turf issues that still need to be resolved.

"But the constitutional embargo is very clear. The entire amendment was notified on September 16, 2016, and it permits the old taxation regime to continue for a period of one year." he said.

"So on September 16, 2017, as far as the current mode of taxation is concerned, the curtain will be down. Therefore, neither the Centre not the state can go in for collection."

The FM said that the GST Council is working on the only issue remaining that is merging three major and some minor taxes into one.

He suggested the need of onetime assessment of each assessee as the central taxes like excise and service tax and state levies like VAT are being subsumed into one.

Shobhit Kalra

Shobhit Kalra

Writer has 10 years of experience in digital media. Presently working as Chief Sub Editor at newstrack.com. An avid reader and always willing to learn new things and techniques.

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