The 13th sitting of the GST Council will take place on Friday in the backdrop of four key Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bills — the Centre GST, the Union Territory GST, the Integrated GST, and the compensation law — getting Parliamentary nod.
At the Council meetings, the Centre and the States finalise draft rules for various aspects of the GST and review the preparedness for the roll out of the new tax regime. At Friday’s meeting the Council will finalise rules on four issues relating to composition, transition, valuation and input tax credit.
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The Council has already approved five sets of rules relating to refunds, registration, invoices, payments and processes.
“This is now the last lap of discussions. Once the rules are finalised, the committee of officials will work on the fitment of commodities,” said an official.
With the passage of Bills in Parliament, the ball is now with the States, whichare expected to ensure timely passage of the State GST Bill in their respective Assemblies. “The exercise should be ideally be completed over the next two-three months,” said a source.
The Council is also likely to review the preparedness for the introduction of the GST, including that of the administration and migration of assessees to the GST Network.
However, despite demands by some sectors of industry as well concerns of a few States, the Government is unlikely to push the rollout date of GST beyond July 1.
“As of now, the July 1 date is achievable. All efforts are towards it,” said the official. Some sections of industry have suggested that GST should instead be rolled out from September 1 to ensure that there is adequate preparation and awareness about the levy.
The Hindu Business Line, 30 march 2017
