Government to approve GST by year end

Thursday, July 10, 2014: In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that GST will be approved by the end of 2014. Once GST comes into force, it will simplify and streamline the indirect tax regime, and will lessen paperwork and burden to file tax.

GST was proposed to provide a uniform tax structure for goods and services—most Indian states replaced sales tax with value added tax (VAT) from the fiscal year 2005. GST will bring in uniform rates of tax on different commodities in all states across the country, and the floor rate of the tax would not be amended or altered by any state. However, VAT is a state subject for which states are sovereign in making decisions.