The conversion of the Goods and Services Tax Network ( GSTN ) into a state-owned Company will take a few more months with approvals from central and state governments yet to come through, reports said.
Goods and Service Tax Network is a one stop solution for all your indirect tax requirements. It is a Section 25, not for profit organisation owned by government and private players jointly. GSTN has been entrusted with the responsibility of building Indirect Taxation platform for GST to help to prepare, file, rectify returns and make payments of indirect tax liabilities.
The procedural formalities of making GST’s information technology backbone into a 100 percent government-owned entity are currently underway, GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey told BloombergQuint. “I hope that within the next few months, this process will be over,” he said.
The 27th meeting of the GST Council through video conference had approved a proposal to convert the GSTN into a fully government owned entity. As per the proposal, the central government will acquire a 50 percent stake in GSTN while state governments will collectively hold the remaining 50 percent. The central and state governments currently hold 24.5 percent stake each in GSTN while the remaining 51 percent is held by HDFC Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd., according to data on GSTN’s website.
Taxation is a State function and should be undertaken by a government-run body, Pandey said. “In the beginning, the whole programme had to take off and therefore, considering the exigencies of the requirement, this formulation of GSTN as a private entity was worked out,” he added.
