Forward movement on GST?

Prospects of a forward movement on GST today seemed to appear in sight with the government giving some proposals to the Congress and expecting a response by Monday when Parliament meets again with just few working days left for the Winter Session to conclude.
A meeting of Congress leaders is being held on Sunday in which the party top brass will take a call on the proposals, which could pave the way for the passage of the GST bill, party sources said.
Government sources meanwhile said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already talked to Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress Deputy Leader in the House Anand Sharma in this regard.

When contacted, Sharma acknowledged that government has held informal talks with him and Azad but added that Congress is yet to get the "final proposition" and once we get it, we will deliberate on it.
He said many clauses of the bill are yet to brought to the level of an "acceptable closure" and there is "some ground to be covered".
"We are for GST. It is still a work in progress and we need to take a fair and considered view and not to rush it through as it has far reaching impact on our taxation," Sharma said.

Congress had last week said that its demand for inclusion of 18 per cent tax cap in the GST bill through the Constitution amendment was not non-negotiable but refused to give a timeline on its passage, saying such important legislations "cannot be rushed through".

"We have never used the word non-negotiable. We felt there is a need for a cap. There is need for ring-fencing it and an absolute guarantee that it will not be tinkered with...," Sharma had said.
"From what I gather, the Congress president did not use the word non-negotiable, but made it very clear that we would like to have it," he had added.
On the issue of putting the 18 per cent cap in the Constitution amendment, Azad had said there should be "some legislative binding" on the government so that it cannot change the tax cap through an executive order. He had at the same time appeared open to some other 'credible alternative' to address the issue.

"There has to be firm ring fencing of the GST cap. It is
for the government to give proposals to address the issue," Sharma said, adding "ball is in their court".
He further said the Congress leadership would take a "considered view", once it hears from the government.
"We have never said we will not talk. Once we know government's stand, we will see where meeting point is there and Congress leadership will take a considered view".
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Meanwhile, Kumar today met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and is believed to have discussed about the long-pending GST Bill, which the government aims to get cleared in the monsoon session beginning July 18.

Besides Kumar, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs S S Ahluwalia and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were also present in the meeting.
After the meeting, Kumar said, he would be holding talks with the Congress leadership this week to iron out differences.
"We are hopeful of the passage of the GST Bill in the monsoon session," he said.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which has been approved by the Lok Sabha, is pending in the Rajya Sabha because of stiff resistance by the Congress, the largest party in the House, over a few proposals.
The main opposition party wants the rate of the goods and services tax capped at 18 per cent, the proposed 1 per cent additional levy on inter-state trade be removed and an independent dispute resolution mechanism for states set up.

The BJP government had originally planned to pass the GST Bill in Parliament in April, converting 29 states into a single market. But the deadline was missed as the bill remained stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
After Parliament approves the constitutional amendment to allow GST, the measure needs to be ratified by more than half of states. Then Parliament must pass another bill to implement the GST.
The overall rate, which would vary for different goods, would be set by a newly formed GST Council.