GST ON COURSE, GAVE ENOUGH TIME TO PREPARE, SAYS JAITLEY

NEWDELHI: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday the government will not defer the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax that is set for July 1, rejecting concerns that businesses were not ready for the switch-over.

“We have, for the last six months, been saying that the date is July 1. Nobody had any business to be not be ready,” the finance minister said, while confirming that the new system of indirect taxes kicks in at midnight on June 30 for which a special function will be held in Parliament’s Central Hall. “There is still two-and-ahalf months to be ready, but if he (a business) is still not ready, I am afraid, but he doesn’t want to be ready,” he said.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the biggest overhaul of India’s taxation system and will unify the country into a single market, replacing a number of central and state taxes being levied currently.

Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda will also be present for the function. Chief ministers have also been invited for the June 30 function at Parliament.

Jaitley said he expects some initial hiccups in the new taxation system.

“The challenges may occur due to some technical glitches or filing problems, but over medium to long term, revenues of Centre and states will grow and the size of formal economy too will grow,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Jaitley said the process of registration of existing central excise, service tax and state VAT payers in the new system was “going on well”.