Raising concerns over the fate of the ambitious indirect tax reform, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting that was scheduled for November 25 has now been postponed to December 2-3.
The GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to discuss the issue of administrative control of businesses and the model GST laws.
The officers’ committee of both the Centre and states, however, will meet on November 25 to finalise the three draft legislations — CGST, IGST and compensation law. These will be placed in public domain for stakeholders’ comments.
The Centre proposes to introduce these legislations as money bills to ensure they are not stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.
Sources said that since the legal changes in the draft laws would take some time, it was decided to postpone the November 25 meeting of the all-powerful GST Council.
“The states have suggested certain changes relating to returns procedures in model GST law. Also, they have asked for changes in wordings in compensation law. We will finalise the three draft laws at the November 25 meeting,” a source said.
The source, however, added that Centre is on track to introduce the legislations in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament, which ends on December 16.
The officers committee would not discuss the issue of cross empowerment to avoid dual control as it would be decided at the ministerial level.
The Centre had on November 16 circulated the draft legislation among the states. The officers committee at their meeting on November 21-22 discussed the issue, with states giving their views.
The Central GST (CGST) will be framed based on the model GST law. The IGST law would deal with inter-state movement of goods and services.