At The Stroke Of The Midnight GST Comes To Force

A grand function marked the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The function to mark the occasion started at 11 pm on June 30 and as the clock struck 12, President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the new tax regime with the press of a button. 

During the event, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi called GST as "Good and Simple Tax", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The new India will create one tax, one nation and one market".

In an address to the nation President Pranab Mukherjee called it a "moment of personal satisfaction". Mukherjee had presented the constitution amendment bill in 2011. He was the union finance minister then.

Hours before the event started, the GST Council met for the 18th time on June 30.

The grand venue

It is only fitting that the Central Hall of The Parliament Complex was chosen as the venue to mark the grand launch of the new tax regime, being touted as the biggest tax reform since Independence. This is for the first time that the government has launched something out of the circular-shaped Central Hall of Parliament. Earlier, the function was planned to be held at Vigyan Bhawan, where all the 17 meetings of the GST Council took place. Vigyan Bhawan, the largest convention hall in Delhi, is used as a venue to hold most government functions.

The building pressure

The Ministry of Finance had recently written to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, suggesting it ensures developers pass on the benefits they would gain in the form of input credit under the new regime. As it stands today, homebuyers have to pay multiple taxes on a property purchase. Under GST, there would be a uniform tax at the rate of 12 per cent, and a developer would enjoy input credit which would be deducted from the tax liability. Under this system, a developer at the time of paying tax on output, you can reduce the tax he has paid on the inputs.

Also read: Will GST Empower Homebuyers To Strike A Better Deal?

"The lowered tax liability should lead to price reduction. The price reduction has to be passed on to the customer," Jaitley has said. If developers fail to abide by the rules, they may be penalised under the anti-profiteering provisions of the GST law. "We want to use the anti-profiteering rule as a deterrent. I hope we are not compelled to use it," the finance minister told media recently.

Also read: No Additional Burden On Homebuyers Under GST

Time is up

What if businesses are not yet ready for GST? We are afraid that they do not have a choice in the matter. As sufficient time was given to businesses to prepare themselves, “nobody had any business not be ready” Jaitley told The Indian Express, adding there was no luxury of time to defer the implementation of GST.  

The big move

The Centre has roped in 74-year-old Amitabh Bachchan as GST brand ambassador. A 40-second video featuring the megastar is being circulated ahead of the launch of the new regime. Earlier, Badminton star PV Sandhu was the GST brand ambassador.

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