Post ratification by 16 States, the GST BIll was presented at the Presidents Office.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his approval to the GST Bill on September 7, making it Law.  The Government will not notify the GST Council, which comprises of state Finance Ministers and is headed by Union Finance Minister.

GST is a single indirect tax which will subsume most of the central and state taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT), excise duty, service tax, central sales tax, additional customs duty and special additional duty of customs. Rate of Tax under GST, which Surcharges and Cess are to be subsumed under GST and such will be decided by the GST Council, who will also take a call on which goods and services would be exempted from the purview of the new indirect tax regime.

Central GST, State GST and Integrated GST Laws are expected to be passed in the Winter Session of the Parliament in November this year and the states and Central government are assumedly working overtime with the various stakeholders, to define the clauses in the documents.

CGST and IGST will be drafted on the basis of the model GST law. The states will draft their respective State GST (SGST) laws with minor variation incorporating state-based exemption. The IGST law would deal with inter-state movement of goods and services.

Source: Input from Agencies