Government is pushing hard to get the Goods and Services Tax Amendment Bill (GST) passed in the monsoon session of parliament.
Shereen Bhan of CNBC-TV18 reports that in a meeting today government reviewed the Bill clause by clause and reached consensus on most issues like inclusion of section for providing compensation to states for upto five years but not less than five years. Government plans to retain the one percent additional manufacturing tax despite strong resistance from Congress.
Sources say that GST will have two rates – merit rate for public services and a standard rate for other services. Traders with Rs 75 lakh annual turnover will be excluded from the GST.
KV Krishnan, CBEC member, Services & GST says that distinction is needed between standard and slightly lower rate for merit goods and merit services for least confusion.
Individual parties, like Shiv Sena, have sought protection for loss of revenue due to removal of octroi. The final decision is yet to be taken on the matter. Government is looking at support from regional parties in order for the Bill to get passed in Rajya Sabha.
Five IT companies – TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and Microsoft – are vying to build the IT backend for GST. The name is expected to be revealed by the end of August. For the Bill to be implemented by March 2016, the module will have to be completed within six months.
Head of GST IT Panel, Naveen Kumar says the session module needs to be ready by January 31, and will be followed by payment and returns module. Both the returns need to be ready by March 31, 2016, he added.
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