Subramanian panel to submit GST report by December 5

The Arvind Subramanian-led panel on recommending revenue-neutral rates for the proposed Goods and Service Tax (GST) would submit its report in the first week of December, senior policymakers said on Monday.

The government was in constant talks with members of the Opposition in a bid to pass the constitutional amendments to GST in the Rajya Sabha, they said.

Just two days before the crucial winter session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Chief Economic Advisor Subramanian, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and other officials.

"We discussed the broad contours of what needs to be done," Adhia told reporters after the meeting. "The Subramanian-led committee has asked for some more time. They have already collated all the data that they need. They should submit the report by December 4 or 5."

Sinha said: "We had a consultation with the chief economic advisor and his committee that has been working on revenue-neutral rates. They have pulled together a lot of data from many different sources, so we have a comprehensive set of numbers. We have finalised parameters that will be necessary to establish the rates. That is now being looked at. We will have something by the first week of December."

Officials did not comment on the likely rate. But there are various suggestions being floated by stakeholders. While a sub-panel of the Empowered Committee of state finance ministers had suggested almost 27 per cent, it was deemed too high. Experts had suggested to a Rajya Sabha select panel that the rates should be within 20 per cent to make India's tax rates competitive with other markets. Congress, on the other the hand, wanted GST to be within 18 per cent.

"The finance minister has already said several times that our goal is to be able to come up with a reasonable rate that will be good for the economy and that's what the CEA and his committee have taken under advisement. I am sure they will consider that as they put together their analysis," Sinha said.

When asked if the constitutional amendment Bill will be passed soon, he said: "We are in continuous consultation with our colleagues in the Opposition. We are trying to talk with them about all of the aspects of GST... We all recognise how important this is for the economy, for India, and so we are in continuous discussion to see that it gets passed."

Sinha said the government was working to ensure a consensus on GST and that it was aware of the demands raised by the Congress on 18 per cent rate in the Constitution amendment Bill, a dispute resolution mechanism and the removal of the 1 per cent manufacturing levy. "What the actual rate is in any case will be established not by the constitutional amendment but by the GST Bill, though of course we have had some inputs that there should be a rate that is fixed in the Constitution amendment itself. So that is an item under discussion. So as of now, our view is that it should be in the GST Bill and not in Constitution amendment," he added.