GST Council clears draft law, final approval by mid-March

GST Council clears draft law, final approval by mid-March

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the new indirect tax regime(शासन), was on track and July 1 was going to be its likely date of implementation(कार्यान्वयन). “It (GST) looks on track. Subject to Parliament approval, it looks like the possible date of implementation of GST is July 1,” Jaitley said after the 11th GST Council meet concluded here.

The Council approved the central cGST (cGST) and integrated GST (iGST) draft bills on Saturday, the Finance Minister said. With the compensation draft bill having already been approved in the Council’s previous meeting — held on February 18 in Udaipur — there are two more draft laws remaining for approval. The Union Territory GST (UTGST) and state GST (sGST) draft bills will be taken up for discussion and approval at the Council’s next meeting on March 16, Jaitley told reporters at a press briefing. The GST Council at a meeting today broadly agreed on the contours of two key legislations – CGST and IGST – but a final approval is likely only by mid-March.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met with his state counterparts today and discussed the GST legislation to be adopted by Union Territories, but there was no discussion with regard to the State GST Bill.

“As many as 26 changes sought by the states have been accepted by the Centre. This shows the federalist character of India. CGST and IGST will come up for further discussion at the next meeting of the Council in mid-March,” West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said.

Mitra further said both the Centre and states have agreed to provide a composition scheme to dhabas and small restaurants.

“States were seeking that dhabas and small restaurants can adopt the composite scheme. The Centre has agreed to that and now these small businesses will pay 5 per cent tax (to be shared equally between the Centre and states),” Mitra said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the central GST and integrated GST legislations have been broadly agreed upon at the Council meeting today.

“Real estate should be brought under GST. Everybody knows that a lot of blackmoney finds its way into real estate and bringing real estate under GST will help in curbing black money,” Sisodia said.