GST – Certain – Not from 1.4.2010
If there is anything certain about GST, it is that it cannot be implemented from 1.4.2010.
Addressing the meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said,
The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) can deliver on all these promises only if it has the following essential features:
(i) It is comprehensive in scope and applies to as large a range of goods and services as possible by minimizing the number of exemptions to a small list of essential items which impact the common man. To the extent possible, the exemption lists of the States and the Central Government are in alignment;
(ii) The rates of tax of CGST and SGST taken together are moderate;
(iii) The rates of tax of SGST and exemptions from SGST are uniform throughout the country so that a given set of goods and services invites the same tax treatment in every State;
(iv) The input credit chain is seamless covering the entire value chain from manufacturing to retail without breaks regardless of whether goods or services are supplied within a State or across State boundaries;
(v) As far as possible, every transaction in the tax net bears both CGST and SGST;
(vi) The tax treatment of goods and services is similar;
(vii) The Central and State levies are fully neutralized in the case of exports (out of India); and
(viii) The procedures are simple and harmonized between the Centre and the States.
He had the last laugh when he said,
“On our part, I assure you that the recommendations and suggestions made in the Discussion Paper would receive our in-depth and meticulous attention so that we are able to jointly finalize the structure and design of GST at the earliest.”
So what was released yesterday was only the States' proposal and the Centre will come out with its proposals soon.