Moving on GST; edu cess to be subsumed in central excise: Govt

Government is moving forward on various fronts to implement the Goods and Services Tax from next year and, as part of this, the Education Cess and Secondary Higher Education Cess are to be subsumed in the Central Excise Duty, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
"GST will put in place a state-of-the-art indirect tax system by 1st April, 2016...
"As part of the movement towards GST, I propose to subsume the Education Cess and the Secondary and Higher Education Cess in Central Excise duty. In effect, the general rate of Central Excise Duty of 12.36 per cent including the cesses is being rounded off to 12.5 per cent," Jaitley said while presenting the Budget 2015-16 in Parliament.

Unveiling Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government's first full-year budget, he said that India needs enabling tax policy to revive growth and investment to ensure that more jobs are created for youth.
GST is expected to play a transformative role in the way economy functions and it will add buoyancy to growth by developing a common Indian market and reducing the cascading effect on the cost of goods and services.
Touted as the single-biggest indirect taxation reform since independence and a "win-win" for Centre and states, the 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill for GST was tabled in the last Winter Session after extensive discussions to get states on board by addressing their concerns.

The Bill will be discussed in the ongoing Budget Session.