A step towards GST by Modi govt.

On 19th Dec'14, Hon'ble Union Finance Minister, Sh. Arun Jaitley presented Constitution(122nd Amendment) Bill,2014 which focused on the introduction of GST in Indian economy. The following is the gist of amendments proposed by this bill: 

• Insertion of new article 246A to confer simultaneous power to Union and State legislatures to legislate on GST. 
 

• To do away with the concept of ‘declared goods of special importance’ under the Constitution. 
 

• Central taxes like Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, Service Tax, Additional Customs Duty (CVD) and Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD), etc. will be subsumed in GST. 

• At the State level, taxes like VAT/Sales Tax, Central Sales Tax, Entertainment Tax, Octroi and Entry Tax,  Purchase Tax and Luxury Tax, etc. would be subsumed in GST. 

• All goods and services, except alcoholic liquor for human consumption, will be brought under the purview of GST, though it has also been provided that petroleum and petroleum products shall not be subject to the levy of GST till notified at a future date on the recommendation of the GST Council. The present taxes levied by the States and the Centre on petroleum and petroleum products, i.e., Sales Tax/VAT, CST and Excise duty only, will continue to be levied in the interim period. 
 

• Both Centre and States will simultaneously levy GST across the value chain. Centre would levy and collect Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), and States would levy and collect the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on all transactions within a State. 
 

• The Centre would levy and collect the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on all inter-State supply of goods and services. There will be seamless flow of input tax credit from one State to another. Proceeds of IGST will be apportioned among the States. 
 

• GST will be a destination-based tax. All SGST on the final product will ordinarily accrue to the consuming State. 
 

• Levy of non-vatable additional tax upto 1% on supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. for a period not exceeding 2 years.This tax will be for a period not exceeding 2 years, or further such period as recommended by the GST Council. This additional tax on supply of goods shall be assigned to the States from where such supplies originate.

The term "services" is proposed to be exhaustively defined as "anything other than goods".

Copy of the said bill can be accessed from the link herein below:

http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Constitution%20122nd/Constitution%20122nd%20Bill.pdf

Comment:

Someone, please ask from Hon'ble FM, whether immovable property can be classified as services? It shall enlarge the scope for unnecessary invitation to litigation right from the beginning. Hence, these points should be taken for re-consideration as well to plug the ambiguities from the very first step.