Arun Jaitely speaks on GST Implementation; Key takeaways from his session

by Gaurav Agarwal
Associate Vice President
Finance and Controlling
February27, 2017

Speaking on implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India, Arun Jaitely said that roll out can happen anytime between April 1 and September 16, 2017.

“It is a transactional tax and not an income tax. Transactional tax can start in any part of the financial year and therefore, the range of timing when it has to come into force because of constitutional necessity is April 1, 2017 to September 16, 2017. Hopefully, the earlier we do, the better it is for the new taxation system, Jaitely said.
He added that GST Council has resolved 10 issues and only one pertaining to administration of tax is pending. 3 quotes from his yesterdays session:”

1. “But the constitutional embargo is very clear. The entire amendment was notified on September 16, 2016, and it permits the old taxation regime to continue for a period of one year.”

2. “So on September 16, 2017, as far as the current mode of taxation is concerned, the curtain will be down. Therefore, neither the Centre not the State can go in for collection.”

3. “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 state and how we cross-empower both Centre and states.”

He closed the session by reminding everyone that nobody has the luxury of time with implementation of GST.