Jaitley thanks political leaders for cooperation in proposed launch of GST

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday thanked all political parties for their cooperation and contribution for making it possible to launch the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1.

In a letter addressed to the presidents of different political parties, Jaitley said that the cooperation of all political parties had facilitated the passage of the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act for Goods and Services Tax (GST) in parliament and the same had been notified on September 8, 2016.

He added that three laws, including GST, IGST and UTGST have already been passed by parliament, while the SGST law has been passed by 25 state assemblies.

He also mentioned that the GST Council in which all states and union territory governments are represented have met 15 times in the last eight months and have approved all draft laws and rules and GST rates for all commodities.

"GST is the most important tax reform since independence and is going to substantially ease doing of business in India which will promote new investment and contribute to the overall GDP growth," Jaitley said in his letter.

Adding to this, he said that the tax regime will help in removing the cascading effect of taxation and will give relief to the common man by leading to reduction in prices, especially of essential consumer goods.

Highlighting the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) in creating mass awareness about the new tax law, Jaitley said it is important for them to understand the finer points of the new tax regime in order to explain the same to the people at large of the country.

He said that if trade and industry faces any difficulty during the implementation phase, the representatives of the people should be better equipped to handle the same if properly trained in this regard.

In his letter, he requested party presidents of the different political parties to consider organising workshops and training sessions for all MPs/MLAs of their respective party for which the government would be happy to provide expert resource persons.

He asked them to contact his office or the office of the Revenue Secretary for assistance, if any, required in this regard.