Report on shift to goods, services tax by month-end

The Finance Ministry will present the working group report on the guidelines on the movement towards goods and services tax (GST) by the end of the month.

“The overall structure of the recommendations for the Empowered Committee have been finalised and will be taken up when the Committee meets on November 28 and 29,” Dr Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to the Finance Ministry, said at the International Tax Conference organised by FICCI here on Monday.

He added that the movement towards GST by 2010 was apace and it was now for the political leaders to examine recommendations and put them out for a wider public discussion.

GST, proposed to be implemented from 2010, would be levied on all goods and services at the Central and State levels at a single rate facilitating compliance and administration by avoiding the need to distinguish product taxed at different rates.

Dr Shome also indicated that the proposed GST structure could have a dual format at the Central and State Levels. “We have in our mind few ideas on how we might be able to roll out GST or what the overall structure would be. It is also important that everyone should see the GST structure as a whole and not just how it would affect one’s manufacturing or service unit,” he said.