GST rollout date may be announced on Jan 8

The date for rolling out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) could be announced on January 8, Asim Dasgupta, chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers, said today.

“There will be a joint statement after a meeting on GST rollout with Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on January 8,” Dasgupta told reporters on the sidelines of the 23rd industrial trade fair, organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

“We (state finance ministers) have a two-day meeting from January 7. We will meet Pranab Mukherjee before giving a statement on this,” he said.

Dasgupta’s statement came just a day after the Mukherjee said the scheduled April-1 date to introduce the new tax regime might be missed due to lack of consensus among the 28 states.

Asked whether a consensus with all the states had been arrived, Dasgupta did not make any comment.

He said the Centre was working and contributing, and an advance had been made which would make it possible to introduce GST at the appropriate time.

GST would do away with most indirect tax levies like excise and service tax at the Central level and Octroi and VAT at the state level.

The committee would meet Mukherjee on January 7 to sort out the Constitutional and administrative issues related to the introduction of GST.

Citing lack of preparedness, a task force constituted by the 13th Finance Commission had recently said implementation of GST should be postponed by six months.

Earlier this month, Dasgupta had said GST would have four slabs. The rate would be zero for exempted items, one standard rate for majority of the goods and services and another having a moderate rate. Precious metals were likely to continue to attract 1 per cent tax.

The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Committee has favoured single slab each for goods and services or one common rate for both under the GST, unlike the proposal mooted by the states.