The government on saturday, released the final rules for Goods and Services Tax (GST), moving a step closer to meeting its July 1 rollout target for the new indirect tax regime.
The rules came out a day after the next meeting of the GST Council on Friday. Five rules involving registration, payment, refund, invoices and returns, the drafts of which were approved in the Council’s previous meeting, were finalised on Friday factoring in amendments to make these compatible with the Goods and Services Tax Bills that the Lok Sabha passed earlier this week.
Since the rules are finalized, the focus will now shift to the “classification” or “fitment” exercise — a comprehensive, if not exhaustive, list specifying the tax rate that each good and service will attract.
The Lok Sabha cleared the four laws supporting the Goods and Services Tax on Thursday. These are: Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill, Central Goods and Services Tax Bill, Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill and the Compensation Bill. The Goods and Services Tax council had cleared these laws along with the State Goods and Services Tax Bill in its earlier meetings. The State Goods and Services Tax bill needs to be cleared by state legislatures.
Read the full text of the rules below.
