Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) is going to be rolled out on July 1, 2017 as all states have agreed on the date. He also said that the government plans to get the council’s approval on Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST) and State GST (SGST) drafts at its meeting, which will be held on March 4 and 5, days before the start of the second leg of the Budget Session.
Das has stated that council at its 10th meeting on February 18 had approved the Draft Compensation Bill and also cleared the final draft of the anti-profiteering clause to ensure benefit of lower taxes gets shared with consumers. He also said that the draft laws passed by the council will have to be passed by Parliament. Simultaneously, State GST (SGST) will have to be passed by state legislatures. He added that the four bills form the enabling laws under the GST constitutional amendment.
Shaktikanta further said that another step remaining is to slot all the commodities under the GST tax slabs of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. He also said that each item has to be fitted under a particular slab and after the March 4-5 meeting, GST officers will do the slotting. Meanwhile, GST, which will replace a plethora of central and state taxes, is a consumption based tax levied on sale, manufacture and consumption on goods and services at a national level.