Decks cleared for GST; Rajya Sabha to take up the bill today

GST laws are all set to become a reality as the Upper House takes up the bills today. Several analysts, political observers and members of business fraternity are eagerly awaiting the grand foray into the GST (Goods and Services Tax) regime as this will probably change the tax-based ecosystem of the country.
 
The analysts believe that several implications might affect the beginning of the new unified tax regime. Some crucial issues might turn out to be tricky for companies and stakeholders, according to market insiders.
 
In the last couple of years, the Modi government has completely overhauled the federal system of the country. The government rolled out a crucial change in 2015 by implementing the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, which hiked states' share in the Union taxes by 10 per cent. Experts think the GST is yet another such change which is anticipated to impact the federal structure of the country and these two key steps will redefine the role of the Centre and the states in reshaping the economic destiny of the nation in the coming few years. 

A strong IT-based infrastructure will back the GST machinery. The indirect tax system will receive more than 2.5 billion invoices a month from 8.5 million taxpayers across the nation. A common IT-based platform (www.gst.gov.in) will act as a bridge between all the stakeholders of the GST ecosystem, as per the records. The market insiders think that the bill is ready for roll-out of GST from July 1 and will mark the beginning of a new era and degree of preparedness will matter the most. Implementation will create a massive difference after the GST bill becomes a reality on July 1. 

Before the entry of the GST, businesses must consolidate their scrambling businesses and must streamline their operations to cope up with the new tax regime, recommends an analyst. The industry believes that the ongoing tax and legal dispute cases must be resolved or shelved before the GST roll-out. 

Decks have been cleared for the GST and experts believe that this is a new beginning and it will open several avenues for the inflow of FDI. After the debut of the GST, Indian market will emerge as a common national market by aptly consolidating a gamut of Central and local taxes such as excise, value-added tax, octroi, and service tax into a single unified levy.