The Central government has circulated three draft Bills relating to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with states for consultation, a senior government official said adding that these will be taken up for discussion in next GST Council meeting on November 24-25.
The GST Council will have to clear Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST) and the compensation Bills before they can be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament, which commenced Wednesday. States have time of over a week to give their views on the three draft laws relating to GST.
The Centre and the states have already decided on a four-tier GST rates— 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent-— but is yet to decide on the issue of cross empowerment to avoid dual control.
On November 10, Lok Sabha had listed three draft Bills relating to GST for introduction in the Winter Session of Parliament.
The constitutional amendment enabling rollout of the indirect tax regime was passed by Parliament in August, following which it became an Act in September after ratification by 16 out of 31 states and state legislatures. The government aims to introduce GST, which will subsume excise, service tax, VAT and other local levies, from April 1, 2017. Source -http://indianexpress.com [16-11-2016]