The Goods and Services Tax Council on Saturday cleared the drafts of the central GST and integrated GST. The government is optimistic about sticking to the rollout deadline of July 1. Earlier, the government had set April 1 as the deadline.
“The GST Council has cleared the final draft of CGST, IGST law and the approval of draft of state-GST which is to be cleared by state assemblies is on the anvil,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. “UTGST and SGST draft bills will be taken up for discussion and approval at the council’s next meeting on March 16.”
The GST Council on Saturday agreed to a 5% GST (equally shared between the Centre and state) on small hotels, restaurants and dhabas with an annual turnover of up to Rs 50 lakh, reported The Economic Times. The Union minister said that though the four-slab tax structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% will remain intact, the cap rate will be higher to avoid making petitions in Parliament for future changes.
He said the GST laws will be presented during the second half of the Budget session starting March 9.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the Centre had agreed to 26 changes recommended by the states. “Parliament passing the CGST and IGST are the first parts,” he said. “States will have to pass their law and then the process of fitment will take place.”
The GST got President Pranab Mukherjee’s approval on September 8, 2016, after being ratified by 16 states. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3. It seeks to replace India’s complicated tax regime comprising 17 different charges with a single levy.
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