Running against time on GST implementation, says Jaitley

Terming April 1, a very stiff target, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government is "running against time" for the implementation of GST, but added that he would certainly like to give it a try.
The Centre is aiming to implement the landmark indirect tax regime, Goods and Services Tax, from April next year.
"We have kept a very stiff target and the reason is that there is a great national aspiration in support of a reform that GST is, and state after state within a period of 20-25 days have kept on ratifying it because they stand to benefit the most," Jaitley said here at the Economist India Summit.

The procedural formalities of collecting proceedings of all the states and sending it to the President for ratification are on, he said.
Once the assent is granted by President Pranab Mukherjee, the constitution amendment bill will have to be notified.
After notification and constitution of the GST Council, Jaitley said, there are obviously some pending issues, which the council will have to resolve.

"So we have the months of September and October and parts of November to do that. So there is a lot of work to do and if you are able to successfully transact those issues, then in the winter session of Parliament the central legislations, with some drafts in public domain, will have to be brought in.

"The states will have to pass their own legislations. Now if we look ahead, it's a very stiff target, we are running against time. I would certainly like to give it a try," Jaitley said when asked about the timeframe for implementation of the GST.
Jaitley added that the passage of central laws, GST Bill and the IGST, are among the important economic legislations for the government.
"But more important along with these legislations is I think if you ask me in terms of economic priorities even outside parliament I would say that certainly implementation of GST is the top priority...," he added.

Parliament has passed the Constitution Amendment Bill for introduction of GST. The requisite number of states also have passed the Bill.
Reforms in the government budgeting like removal of
distinction in non-plan and plan expenditure, merger of Railway Budget with General Budget, focusing on outcomes through an improved Outcome Budget document, all needed to be reflected in the GFRs, it added.
The statement said the increased focus on Public Finance Management System (PFMS), reliance on the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to ensure efficient delivery of entitlements, introduction of new e-sites like Central Public procurement portal, government e-marketing (GeM) portal, non-tax revenue portal have also necessitated revision of the existing GFRs to keep them in tune with the changing business environment.

Noting that the objective was to make the GFRs facilitate efficiency while following principles of accountability and procedures of financial discipline and administrative due diligence, the statement said the new rules on non-tax revenues, user charges, e-receipts portal have been added in addition to the manner in which autonomous bodies are run.