GST council expected to finalise laws at the Udaipur meeting today

The 10th council meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to vet the draft supporting legislations crucial for its implementation has begun at Udaipur here today.

The meeting is being chaired by the GST council who aim to get clearance on a number of issues, including the formation of a GST Appellate Tribunal, which will discuss matters related to GST implementation and suggestions.

Earlier, the ninth council meeting saw no consensus being made on levying and collection of Integrated GST, a special privilege given to the Central Government with regards to imposing GST on inter-State supply of goods and services. This issue has been incorporated for discussion in this meeting. Additionally, the council is expected to throw light on the implications of CGST and SGST as well, while initiating the approval of the Compensation Law.

Furthermore, as per reports of the previous meeting, the scheduled date for GST was postponed to July 1, 2017, which was earlier April 1, 2017. This has been re-affirmed during the announcement of the Union Budget 2017-18 on February 1, 2017, by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The GST proposal is one that has been deemed as 'much-awaited' by industry analysts on several occasions. It has been glorified as an amalgamation of all indirect taxes to be paid on sale, manufacture and consumption of goods and services on a national level.

Additionally, it is said to be an initiative that would simplify monitoring and collecting indirect taxes, owing to the fact that post its incorporation, indirect taxes would all fall under a single bracket.

The constitutional amendment containing the GST was passed in August 2016.