No arbitrary decisions under GST: Arun Jaitley

The Centre does not want to give discretionary powers to bureaucrats in the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, finance minister Arun Jaitley told businessmen and tax officials at Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar on Wednesday.

Jaitley was addressing concerns of businessmen regarding ambiguities in provisions for taxation, during his key note speech on a seminar, ‘GST: The game changer for Indian Economy’, which was organised on the second day of the eighth edition of VGS.  Businessmen are concerned that inconsistencies in legal provisions may lead to arbritrary decision-making by bureaucrats, which will result in them being unable to take informed business decisions.

Jaitley said the government is aiming to implement GST from April 1.

He said even if it’s delayed, the new sales tax has to be rolled out latest by September 16, 2017, as states will then lose their authority to collect taxes.

Jaitley said the combination of GST and demonetisation will give a boost to the economy and accelerate its growth rate.