GST rollout uncertainty hits Budget 2017 calculations

Uncertainty over the date of the goods and services tax (GST) rollout is posing a dilemma for finance mandarins as they finalise this year’s budget. 

The original expectation was that the budget would not touch upon excise duties and service tax as they would be rolled into the multiple-rates GST structure, which was to come into being from April 1, 2017. 

But with hopes of meeting the April 1 deadline receding, the government will have to quickly take a call on whether it will rejig indirect taxes in the budget to prepare for the launch of GST or leave them