Don't complicate GST

Sugar cess proposal reflects poorly on the Council

On Friday, the Goods and Services Tax Council, the body empowered to take final decisions with regard to the indirect tax regime, ended yet another meeting. While some important issues were resolved, there was also a fair amount of disagreement among the GST Council members. The good news is that the Council decided to further simplify the return-filing procedure. As against the present practice of filing 37 returns — three in each month and one annual — the new system will only require a monthly return, sharply reducing the onerous procedural issues. The transition will be a three-stage process and