The Council also discussed process to make return filing simpler with just one return to be filed every month.
The CBEC will itself be rechristened as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and will supervise GST and Customs activities and provide the government policy inputs.
States are apprehensive of losing their rights to raise revenue during emergencies.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the successful implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) can give a trillion-dollar boost to the economy, taking the total output to $2 trillion in a short span of time.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
The economy may grow by around 7 per cent this financial year as estimated by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), say economists with various organisations. The first advance estimates for 2023-24 will be released on Friday by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO), an exercise done for calculating ratios such as the fiscal deficit. The interim Budget will be presented on February 1.
'GST will increase the volume of taxation, there is no tax on tax and therefore makes goods, commodities and services little cheaper and far more convenient.'
The transition to a single, nationwide tax on goods and services will streamline business and boost the economy by tearing down barriers between 31 states and union territories.
'In a country like ours, people talk about wanting to be like Singapore, but when it comes to paying taxes, they start criticising.' 'The medicine is bitter, but the long term effect is good,' Senthil Natarajan, who runs Kovai Pazamudhir Nilayam, a one of its kind fruit and vegetable chain in Tamil Nadu, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
"It is very dangerous in the 21st century to exclude people," said the Congress president.
'Right to apprenticeship means that anyone below the age of 25 years with a diploma or other qualifications can demand an apprenticeship with a private, a public sector company or a government organisation. And when he/she demands this, it is the obligation of the government to provide it.'
The Constitution amendment bill for roll-out of GST is pending in Rajya Sabha for a long time.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) might relax the disclosure norms around rumour verification to help smooth implementation and ease compliance amid pushback from India Inc, said people in the know. The rule has been notified following amendments to the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) by Sebi. However, its implementation has been deferred until February.
Elections may be a few months away, but the government may get into election mode much earlier than that, predicts A K Bhattacharya.
"There will be some challenges" in the switchover to GST in the short term, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has warned.
The GoM will meet on Saturday to finalise single-stage, simplified, return filing under the GST; report will be placed before GST Council on March 10.
The Opposition said that the government was 'bull-dozing'.
The Centre would need the concurrence of 20 states out of 29 to impose a GST on petroleum
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
From a commercial standpoint, reducing the price of each SKU, particularly with a small MRP (Rs 5 or below) is often a challenge, including availability of legal tender below Re 1
Their favourite alternatives: Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Note, India is missing from that list. And this is despite an attractive financial incentive scheme for OSAT players. The reason, said a senior executive of a US chip company who had a meeting in Taiwan just a few weeks ago, is that "they want more predictability in government policy because they plan to put in big money."
The banking system's liquidity slipped into deficit for the first time in the current financial year (2023-24) due to the imposition of the Incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (I-CRR) for banks and outflows from goods and services tax (GST) payments, according to dealers. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows it injected Rs 23,644 crore on August 21. The last time liquidity was in deficit was on March 27, when the RBI injected Rs 45,575 crore.
The GST will replace more than a dozen levies central and state levies, including central excise duty, service tax and central sales tax as well as VAT on sale of goods and entry tax, to make movement of goods seamless across 1.3 billion market.
Small scale and cottage industries which are labour intensive will be severely hit.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
Jaitley's concerns are unlikely to cut much ice with the Congress.
Ruptures in the opposition unity emerged barely a week after 17 parties joined hands to put up a joint candidate against the ruling National Democratic Alliance nominee for the July 17 presidential election.
We have only three differences with the Bharatiya Janata Party on the GST, said the Congress vice president.
'GST gives a huge relief to small businesses of India and West Bengal.'
Stocks and sectors impacted most by GST.
So far, 38.38 lakh taxpayers accounting for 64.42 per cent of the total businesses, who had registered in July, filed returns.
The list of exempted goods from central excise duty has shrunk from 400 items in 2011-12 to 300 now.
There are also talks of branded garments being put under the luxury tax slab, which could be higher than 18 per cent.
Thomas Archer Bata says if the tax rate is kept above 20% it will be a very big hit.
The benefits are common in many cases, but are also different in some other respects.
States' demand for 5 years and Constitutional provision ruled out
With just eight days left for the winter session, Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minster M Venkaiah Naidu held consultations with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader Anand Sharma.
The services sector had slipped into contraction in July as confusion caused by the GST rollout triggered a dip in new business orders.
The implementation of the GST will indeed be a landmark reform.
It had upped India's rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its rating outlook to 'stable' from 'positive', saying the reforms would help stabilise rising levels of debt.
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