Central and State GST

By Vijay Kumar

Now it is almost sure that the proposed GST will have two components – a Central GST and a State GST . Revenue Secretary PV Bhide told a CII meeting yesterday that many of the States have agreed on a common tax rate though some products like alcohol and tobacco may have different tax rates.

April 2010 is not far away, but issues like who will administer GST, the legislative and machinery provisions are far away. GST presupposes a good computer network and we don't seem to be anywhere near it.