Indications in favour of rolling out GST by 1 July 2017

  • The government, along with large industry players, is keen on rolling out GST by 1 July 2017 in order to avoid hassle during the peak festive season, which includes Navratri and Diwali.
  • The festive season will lead to a surge in the demand for products like gold, garments, automobiles, etc. The fireworks industry will also be affected by a September launch.
  • As per the senior government officers, 1 July 2017 is a realistic date as there is only a small section which wants to delay the roll out.

Concerns which are likely to postpone the rollout to 1 September 2017

  • Although large players may be ready for a 1 July rollout, their vendors and other small industry players will face infrastructural difficulties if the roll out is not postponed to 1 September 2017.
  • The ERP systems have not come out with GST packages, given that the rules at a draft stage have been issued recently and the rates have not been announced yet.
  • There are reports of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) trials not achieving the expected targeted.

Set-up of Digital Kiosks as GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs)

  • Common Service Centres (CSCs), or Digital Kiosks are being set up to facilitate the rollout of GST in rural and semi-urban areas.
  • These centres will help the merchants to file tax returns and also provide training and support services to them. Such services offered by the centres will not be free.
  • Digitals kiosks and CSCs will act as GSPs which can directly connect to the Application Programming Interface (APIs) of the GSTN and facilitate hassle free compliance procedure.

Other Aspects

  • As per the reports, the Centre and states seem to have worked out the GST tax rates for at least 6000 commodities.
  • The Revenue Secretary held a detailed review of the IT preparedness for GST rollout from 1 July 2017.
  • Hands on training on application software on the live system is being imparted to the tax officials.
  • The Chief Minister of Gujarat has claimed that the state is GST ready with over 0.5 million taxpayers already enrolled with the GST portal.
SKP's comments

  • Considering the repeated assertions of the Finance Minister and senior government authorities, GST is likely to roll out by 1 July 2017. However, postponement due to infrastructural shortcomings cannot be ruled out.
  • Confirmations of the draft rules and the announcement of the rates in the upcoming Council meeting to be held in Srinagar on 18 and 19 May 2017 are eagerly awaited.

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