History @ midnight: the dawn of GST

ptirNEW DELHI rThe historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) was launched by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the stroke of midnight at a gala event at the historic Central Hall of Parliament unveiling the new tax regime replacing overnight the messy mix of more than a dozen state and central levies built up over seven decades, with a one national GST unifying the country’s USD 2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a common market.rThe new indirect tax regime in the country comes into effect from July 1, wherein fixation of GST rates on the supplies is joint responsibility of the Central and State governments after the approval from the GST Council.rThe one national GST unifies the country’s $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a common market, an exercise that took 17 tumultuous years.rCalling the GST a “disruptive change”, President Pranab Mukherjee said the ambitious central tax is a “tribute” to the maturity and wisdom of India’s democracy, as he recalled steps taken during his own tenure as Finance Minister on this key reform measure.rHe also said the GST Council should continuously review the implementation and suggest suitable improvements to the new indirect taxation regime.r“The new era in taxation, which we are about to initiate in a few minutes, is the result of a broad consensus arrived at between the Centre and states,” Mukherjee said minutes before the GST rollout in his speech at a special function in the central hall of Parliament. rPrime Minister Narendra Modi termed the GST as a “good and simple tax” which will end harassment of traders and small businesses while integrating India into one market with one tax rate. Modi said the indirect tax reform is a result of combined efforts of various political parties at different points of time.rGST, he said, is an example of cooperative federalism as the centre and states together thrashed out the new law with consensus.rBesides being a transparent and fair system that will end generation of black money and corruption, GST will promote new governance culture that will end harassment at the hand of tax officials.rrrGST launch rdivides oppnrNEW DELHI: The Opposition on Friday night stood as a divided house as the JD(U), the NCP, the BJD, the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (S) participated in the midnight launch of the GST, which was boycotted by the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left and some other parties.rThe NCP, a key constituent of the Congress-led UPA, broke away from the Opposition ranks, with its chief Sharad Pawar along with Praful Patel and Tariq Anwar attending the event in the Central Hall of Parliament.