Goods and GST Bill passed

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Dear All,

GST Bill is passed in Rajya Sabha on 03. 08.2016.

A panel under chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has recommended a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5%, with a standard rate of 17-18% be levied on most goods and all services.

But, there has been no agreement yet on rates of various goods and services, which remains a tricky issue. According to the Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha in May 2015, the rates were to be decided by a GST council headed by the central finance minister with state finance ministers as members.

Let us wait.

Thanks.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Centre and states have not reached consensus over the issue of administrative control after implementation of GST. The States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bihar have also sought administrative control over both goods and services below the ₹ 1.5 crore threshold.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

It is imperative that the GST is implemented at the earliest, else post mid-sept 2017 there would be an issue that in absence of legislative backing , taxes could not be levied.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The GST Council has announced that demerit goods like tobacco will be subject to the highest GST rate of 28 plus an additional cess.

Tobacco taxation as a fiscal policy is a 'win-win' situation. It not only increases revenue generation but also reduces the consumption of tobacco especially for the young and poor.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

India's GST reform is a historic opportunity to implement a system of taxation that strongly supports sustainable development across its many dimensions, including health, equity, poverty and good governance .

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Government should ensure that all tobacco products including bidis and smokeless tobacco are taxed at the highest rate of GST and subject to additional cess to protect the most vulnerable section of the society, the poor.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Ministry of Finance has released a report card highlighting progress on GST implementation. The report card indicates that Government of India lost no time in implementing the GST so far. It has taken number of important decisions to pave way for roll out of GST with effect from 1st April 2017.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

With the introduction of GST most of the central and state taxes / duties will be subsumed under GST . Thus it is expected that the incentives available to domestic manufacturers under the current tax regime would decrease and there is a need to continue the incentive under the GST regime to meet the increasing demand through domestic production says EY Partner Bipin Sapra.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The GST online portal seeks to empower the dealers with complete online experience with no manual interface. Starting from registration , uploading of bills, filing of returns and online tax payment . the entire process will be online.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Jaitley suggested there is a need that each assessee is assessed only once since central taxes like excise and service tax and state levies like VAT are being subsumed into one.

“You have the pre-existing (tax) machinery of the Centre and states. (It has to be decided) how the burden of this assessment is going to be shared between the Centre and states and how we cross-empower both the Centre and states,” he said further.

Saying GST will usher in a common taxation and should lead to a federal bureaucracy, Jaitley felt that both the Centre and states should figure out sharing of the tax assessment.

Ideally, he said, it should be proper for the issues to be resolved at the beginning of financial year on April 1 for the new regime to kick in. “But then, in any case, nobody has the luxury of time,” he cautioned.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), FM said, can be implemented anytime between April 1 and September 16, 2017, in accordance with the constitutional amendment legislation that allows a national sales tax by subsuming central and state levies.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

According to the finance minister, there are about ten important decisions that have already been taken through consensus. The legislations which have to be passed by Parliament and state legislatures are currently in the process of being drafted.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Describing it as an opportune time to invest in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited Asian businesses to invest in the country and said the GST regime is expected to be implemented next year.

“India is not only a good destination. It’s always a good decision to be in India. We welcome those who are not in India so far,” Modi said through videoconferencing at the Economic Times Asian Business Leaders Conclave here.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

“Instead of paying taxes at multiple levels of government including State and Central, there will be one tax allowing companies to save from the existing cumulative 25-30% tax burden and reduce it to 17-18% through a single unified tax and the advantage of logistics and processing costs thereof,” said K Krishnamoorthy, Chairman, India Electronics & Semiconductor Association.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

All entities exempted from payment of indirect tax under any existing tax incentive scheme would pay tax in the GST regime and the decision to continue with any incentive scheme shall be with the concerned State or Central Government. In case any State Government or Central Government decides to continue any existing exemption/incentive scheme, it will be administered by way of a reimbursement mechanism.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Bands of rates of goods under GST shall be 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% and in addition there would be a category of exempt goods. Further, a cess would be levied on certain goods such as luxury cars, aerated drinks, pan masala and tobacco products, over and above the rate of 28% for payment of compensation to the States.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

States would be compensated for 5 years for loss of revenue due to implementation of GST, the base year for the revenue of the State would be 2015-16 and a fixed growth rate of 14% will be applied to it.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The threshold limit for exemption from levy of GST would be ₹ 20 lakhs for normal States and ₹ 10 lakhs for the Special Category States enumerated in Article 279A of the Constitution.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The GST Council has been entrusted with the power to make recommendations to the Union and the States on various GST related issues, including those relating to goods and services that may be subject to, or exempted from the goods and services tax; the threshold limit of turnover below which goods and services may be exempted from GST and the rates including floor rates with bands of GST.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The ‘GST related draft laws’ and ‘Provisions for cross empowerment to ensure single interface under GST’ are under consideration of the GST Council. 99 Sections of the Model GST Law have already been discussed by the Council and remaining Sections will be discussed in the next meeting of the Council scheduled for 22-23 December, 2016.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Winter session of Parliament started in November 16, 2016 and ended on December 16, 2016. The GST Council is scheduled to meet again on 22-23 December, 2016.

AI Summary

Goods and Services Tax consolidation creates a dual GST framework with GST Council oversight and a shared IT platform for compliance.
Goods and Services Tax establishes a destination based, dual tax framework subsuming central and state indirect levies, administered through a GST Council and implemented via a shared IT platform (GSTN). The model law sets out registration and return regimes, HSN/SAC classification by turnover bands, input tax credit carry forward, composition and reverse charge rules, refund and valuation procedures, compensation to states during transition, and institutional arrangements for cross empowerment, adjudication and dispute resolution.