GST roll-out – Complete transformation of the Indirect Taxation Landscape; Some minute details of how it happened
GST
Dated:- 30-6-2017
Goods and Services Tax (GST), a historic tax reform, will come into effect from tomorrow i.e.1st July, 2017. GST will completely transform the Indirect Taxation landscape in the country involving both the Central and State levies. In a departure from the normal practice, GST will be administered together by the Centre and States.
To commemorate the historic occasion, a function will be held in the Central Hall of Parliament on the mid-night of 30th June – 1st July, 2017. The occasion will be graced by the Hon'ble President, Hon'ble Vice President, Hon'ble Prime Minister, Hon'ble Speaker of Lok Sabha and Hon'ble Union Finance Minister among other dignitaries.
Why is GST so important?
The biggest tax reform since independence – GST – will pave the way for realization of the goal of One Nation – One Tax – One Market. GST will benefit
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d average VAT rates, cascading of VAT over excise duty and tax incidence on account of CST, Octroi, Entry Tax, etc.] by the Centre and State(s).
Journey of GST after the Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016
After the assent of the Hon'ble President on 8th September, 2016, the 101th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016 came into existence. The GST Council was constituted on 15.9.2016.
Since its formation in September, 2016 the GST Council has held 18 meetings. The Finance Ministers of all the States or their representative along with State and Central govt officials have participated in these extensive meetings and formulated the law and procedure to implement this historic tax reform. It was a mammoth task involving 27000+ man hours of intensive work. More than 200 meetings of the officers of the Centre and States took place in different parts of the country to expedite the implementation of GST.
While framing GST Acts and Rules, enhanced 'Ease of doing business' for the taxpayers
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and Services Tax (UTGST) Bill, 2017 and the GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017. They were passed by the Lok Sabha on 29th March, 2017 and by the Rajya Sabha on 6th April, 2017.
The GST Council has decided the final structure of GST as follows:
* The threshold limit for exemption from levy of GST is ₹ 20 lakh for the States except for the Special Category, where it is ₹ 10 Lakh.
* A four slab tax rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% has been adopted for GST.
* A cess would be levied on certain goods such as luxury cars, aerated drinks, pan masala and tobacco products, over and above the GST rate of 28% for payment of compensation to the states.
* The threshold for availing the Composition scheme is ₹ 75 lakh except for special category States where it is ₹ 50 lakh and they are required to file quarterly returns only. Certain categories of manufacturers, service providers (except restaurants) are out of the Composition Scheme.
Other Important Fea
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rategic Control with the Government, to function as a common Pass-through portal for taxpayers. On this common portal, taxpayers will submit their registration applications, file returns, make tax payments, claim refunds etc. GSTN has been provided with a robust IT platform and it will provide interface to 80 lakh taxpayers and thousands of tax officials. All filings under GST will be done electronically. While GSTN remains a front-end, at the back end, the IT systems of CBEC and different states interface with the GSTN IT network to provide a seamless end to end processing of tax returns for the taxpayers. 64,000 officials have been trained on the GST portal from February till June 2017. The GSTN IT systems have undergone load tests, performance tests, vulnerability tests, security and all other mandatory tests.
Enrolment of existing taxpayers of the State tax administrations and the Central Board of Excise and Customs to the GST system commenced on 8thNovember, 2016. More than 66 la
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assisting taxpayers and other stake-holders to enable a smooth transition to GST.
RE-ORGANISATION OF CBEC
Implementation of GST has necessitated reorganisation of the Central Board of Excise & Customs formations for administration of GST. The reorganisation involved bringing about structural changes and redeployment of human resources. Redeployment has been done to ensure outreach to the remotest corner. The Directorates which have significant role under the GST have been adequately expanded and strengthened.
The field formations have been restructured as 21 CGST & CX Zones, 107 CGST & CX Commissionerates, 12 Sub-Commissionerates, 768 CGST & CX Divisions, 3969 CGST & CX Ranges, 48 Audit Commissionerates and 49 Appeal Commissionerates.
TRAINING
For a smooth roll out of GST, it was imperative to carry out adequate capacity-building exercise and awareness. National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) have conducted extensive training programs. In the first pha
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