AMN
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that doing business would become easier once Goods and Services Tax GST is rolled out and it would help a large body of traders and citizens.
At a press conference in New Delhi today, the Minister said GST is a major step forward in the direction of having a uniform tax in the country.
The Minister said the rates of most of the commodities will gradually come down under the new indirect tax regime.
He said passage of GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha demonstrates inherent maturity of Indian politics.
The Finance Minister said government had marathon rounds of consultations and Centre was accommodative of various views but without compromising on the fundamentals of the bill.
He said state governments were overwhelming in their support of the Bill as they felt it would help their revenue. The Minister also credited public opinion for playing a significant role in the passage of GST Bill.
Mr Jaitley said Model GST Bill has 233 odd clauses and 40,000 pages of representation have been received from industry in two months. He informed that a team has been formed to go through the representations and do the needful.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, who was also present in the press conference told reporters that 60 thousand central and state government officials are to be trained on GST laws and IT framework by March next year. He said the GST is targeted to be roll out from 1st of April 2017.