GST draft paper to be released within a month: Asim Dasgupta

The empowered group of state finance ministers will come out with a draft paper on Goods and Services Tax (GST) within a month to facilitate implementation of the new tax regime by the April 1, 2010.

"The responses of the states will be obtained (on the discussion paper) and the draft will be finalised for discussion. We are trying to do that within the end of this month," empowered group chairman Asim Dasgupta told reporters after a meeting here.

The Group will hold discussions with the stakeholders, including trade and industry, after finalisation of the draft, he added.

The draft, for which a joint working group was constituted last month, would deal with important issues like legislation, rules and procedures of the GST.

The group for preparing the draft comprises officials from the finance ministry and state revenue officials.

The proposed indirect tax regime will do away with most of the indirect taxes like excise and services levied by the centre and subsume state levies like VAT and Octroi.