Arun Jaitley, Finance Ministry officials present GST blueprint to ministers

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his ministry officials today presented to the Council of Ministers a blueprint for launch of the path-breaking GST from July 1 to transform the Indian economy.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia made a detailed presentation to the Council — the supreme executive organ headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — on how the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented and the challenges before it is rolled out.
The biggest tax reform since Independence, GST has been in the works for more than a decade. It will transform the USD 2 trillion economy and market of 1.3 billion people into a single economic zone with a single national sales tax.
GST will subsume central taxes like excise duty which is levied on manufacturing and service tax as well as state taxes like VAT that is chargeable on sale. Sources said Adhia informed the meeting of the four-slab rate structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent finalised by the GST Council. He explained how the fitment of different goods and services in these slabs is being done to keep their impact on consumers as well as exchequer neutral.
GST will broadly be in line with current levies on most goods and services, sources said. Besides making it easier to do business in India, GST will improve compliance, boost tax revenue and expand GDP by up to 2 per cent by vanquishing out-of-tax-net parallel trade.
Also, checkpoints at state borders will be dismantled, making movement of goods smooth, he told the meeting.