Hope to Roll Out GST Soon, says Finance Ministry

New Delhi: The Ministry of Finance on Thursday expressed hope that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the constitution amendment Bill for which has been stalled in the Rajya Sabha where ruling NDA is in minority, will be rolled out in 2016.

"The journey towards GST has been long. We will have to wait and see what will be the outcome, whether it will be passed in this session or in the coming Budget Session, but I can say with full confidence that GST is a thing which is going to be reality very soon," Special Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Rashmi Verma said at an event organised by industry body PHDCCI. "We have set the goal of rolling out GST in the year 2016," Verma added.

The Congress has been stalling the passage of the Bill.

Stating that the Ministry of Finance was trying to prune exemption list, she said: "We have to move away from exemption regime otherwise it will lead to cascading effect."

Verma said under GST the regime there will be common portal managed by the GST Network.

Speaking at the event, the Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman Najib Shah said after implementation of GST in 2016, there are bound to be legacy issues for quite some time and the industry needs to be prepared for that.

The government proposes to roll out new indirect tax regime GST from April 1, 2016. While the Constitution Amendment Bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Centre is working on the administrative preparedness for smooth roll-out of the indirect tax regime.

Besides the Constitution Amendment Bill, the Centre and state will have to pass their own GST legislation, the model for which is being finalised by the Centre.

GST, which is being touted as the most comprehensive indirect taxation reform since the Independence, will subsume various indirect taxes including excise, octroi and service tax.