12185 - No PAN, Aadhaar details for jewellery above Rs 50,000: GST council - ZeeBiz

No PAN, Aadhaar details for jewellery above Rs 50,000: GST council

Under the 22nd GST Council Meeting chaired by FM Arun Jaitley, the government decided not to make Aadhaar and PAN mandatory for purchase of high value goods like jewellery. 

The GST council meet chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday mentioned that permanent account number (PAN) or Aadhaar would not be mandatory if jewellery is purchased above Rs 50,000. 

As per the council, if a person is buying jewellery above Rs 50,000 will not be required to submit thier PAN or Aadhaar card details. 

It further added any entity dealing in gems or jewellery or any other high-value goods having turnover of Rs 2 crore or more will not be covered under PMLA. 

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent money-laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from money-laundering.

News agency ANI tweeted saying "Govt revokes GST notification on gems and jewelry, separate notification to be issued separately after due consideration."

As part of a new nationwide sales tax regime that kicked in on July 1, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on gold has jumped to 3% from 1.2% previously.

GST India on its official website had earlier mentioned, "A hike in taxes on gold sales in India could stoke under-the-counter buying and drive up an appetite for precious metal smuggled into the country, where millions of people store big chunks of their wealth in bullion and jewellery."

However, currently, the 12-digit Aadhaar code is not only necessary for availing various schemes in India but also an important source for carrying out financial matters like opening bank accounts or filing taxes.
  

10597 - Govt to introduce GST legislation as Money Bill - Millenium

Govt to introduce GST legislation as Money Bill

12 November 2016, New Delhi, Dhirendra Kumar

The GST Bill is set to be introduced in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from November 16.

Keeping in mind ‘no majority’ in Rajya Sabha, the ruling government-led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hinted at introducing Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Parliament as Money Bill instead of Finance Bill. Clearing the stand of the government over the nature of GST Bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently said that there were no precedents of any legislation related to tax being ever introduced in the Parliament as Finance Bill, so the same will be done with GST Bill too.

The stand of the government may prove to be a huge setback for opposition parties, including Congress, which had supported the Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST in Rajya Sabha on the condition that GST Bill would be introduced in the Parliament as Finance Bill. 

Now, when the GST Bill would be introduced as Money Bill, the opposition parties would not have any say in ‘forcing’ government to make changes in it. 

As per legal procedures, Money Bill will be introduced only in Lok Sabha, where the ruling government is in majority, and Rajya Sabha cannot make any amendments to them. However, the Upper House can suggest amendments, but it is up to the Lok Sabha to accept them or reject them.

The GST Bill is set to be introduced in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from November 16. 

The Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST was easily passed during Monsoon Session, with the Congress party coming on board, after the government made about six changes including scrapping of 1 per cent manufacturing tax and incorporating clearer provisions for the compensation of states.

Earlier, the Modi government has introduced popular Aadhaar Bill as a Money Bill. The reason behind introducing Aadhaar as a Money Bill was that the NDA has a majority in Lok Sabha and not in Rajya Sabha. 

9525 - Govt. hopes to pass Bankruptcy, GST Bills

NEW DELHI, March 14, 2016

Govt. hopes to pass Bankruptcy, GST Bills

• NATIONAL BUREAU

PTI

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and IMF MD Christine Lagarde on the concluding day of the Advancing Asia Conference in New Delhi on Sunday.

Legislation will give a fillip to reforms process: Jaitley.

The National Democratic Alliance government hopes to press the accelerator on reforms and pass the landmark Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill for a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a separate bill for Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code, 2015, in the second half of the Budget session beginning April 20, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.

The current session of Parliament has already seen the passage of one landmark legislation two days ago, Mr. Jaitley said, referring to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies and Services) Bill, 2016.

The legislation meant to provide statutory backing to the unique identification number was passed last week.

“I do hope to see another two being passed in the second part of the session with regard to the bankruptcy and insolvency laws and GST,” he said, addressing the Advancing Asia Conference.

The passage of the GST and the bankruptcy and insolvency laws, he said, would give a major fillip to India’s reform process.

“We are trying to have special emphasis now both in terms of legislative changes and resources being put to strengthen the banking system… next few months, in bringing about structural change, are going to be extremely important.”

Mr. Jaitley said that the constituency within India supporting reforms is much bigger than its opponents. He also said that exhibiting determination to move on the reforms path, India can provide a significant amount of growth to the world.

There is a broad national consensus that the Indian economy be strengthened further so that it can attract more foreign capital, he said.

The GST Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha but is stuck in the Upper House, where the ruling NDA does not have a majority and is dependent on the support of the Congress for its passage. The Constitution amendment Bill needs two-third majority or 162 votes in the 242-member Rajya Sabha. The Congress, the original author of the GST reform, has refused to support the Constitution amendment Bill in its present form.

After it clears the Rajya Sabha, the legislation will have to be ratified by at least half of the 29 States. Also speaking at the Conference, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the world had lots to learn from India’s Aadhaar initiative that would affect revenue generation in a big way.

Ms. Lagarde also told reporters she didn’t see much of a downside from the global economy to India’s growth rate since the country has a “solid” growth model, a growing population, scale of market and was pursuing reforms. India, she said, has been the prime net beneficiary from low oil prices and had done well to prepare for the spill-over effects of asymmetric monetary policies of central banks across the world. She also said that an IMF team recently analysed the Central Statistics Office’s new series for GDP estimates and found that it conforms to the international standards. International commentators have termed these growth estimates over-optimistic.

7136 - Strong administrative structure must precede GST implementation - Financial Express

Strong administrative structure must precede GST implementation

December 31, 2014 7:42 pm

SUMMARY

The increasing use of Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer and the proposed GST are the key reforms that presage good growth. However, the kinks in GST must be removed

Although it is too early to evaluate the reforms initiated by the NDA government, the direction and the speed with which the government has implemented these elicit hopes of better growth in 2015. While the global economy is expected to grow marginally, by 3.1% next year, India’s economy is likely to grow by 5.9%—the second-highest among the world’s large economies—as per a UN report.

The economic survey of India released by OECD expects GDP to grow by 5.4% this fiscal year and by 6.6% in FY16. The reforms have put India on a strong and sustainable growth path.

The Macroeconomic Vulnerability Index (MVI) which adds together the country’s inflation rate, current account deficit and fiscal deficit, constructed by the ministry of finance, indicates that in 2013 India was at the top of the pack on vulnerability with an index value of 22.4, well above that of other countries. Since then, India’s fortunes have improved and it demonstrated the greatest improvement in MVI. Currently, the value of the index is well above 15 (a value below 12 is recognised to be perhaps safer macroeconomic territory). It is expected the index would improve in 2015.

The reforms have been initiated in general and in the area of indirect taxes in particular. This is based on the premise that in addition to important reforms such as liberalising FDI in insurance, two game-changing reforms are on the horizon: (1) the increasing use of direct transfers, combining Aadhaar with the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, which could replace the government interventions in the economy in cereals, oilseeds, sugar, fertilisers, kerosene, coal, power, etc; and (2) the likely introduction of GST.

GST will create a buoyant source of revenue and place the fiscal position on a permanently solid footing. It will help in tax administration and reduce corruption in indirect tax collection. This will serve to make India more of a common market. The elimination of internal barriers to trade should be seen as a positive trade and productivity shock for the Indian economy. Much less recognised is the fact that GST will also be a redistributive exercise, transferring resources to the consuming states.

On many issues, especially GST, the economy-wide impact can only be realised if the states also implement reforms. It is now well recognised that many of the factors affecting economic development in India are no longer controlled by the Centre.

But the structural and administrative aspects of GST at both the central and state levels are very important. While GST rates will be uniform across the country, to give some fiscal autonomy to the Centre and states it has been designed to provide a narrow tax band over and above the floor rates of CGST and SGST. It is important that the variations in the tax rate are kept within limits. The proposed GST introduces the anomaly of having an origin-based tax on interstate trade. It proposes to levy a non-VAT-able Additional Tax, of not more than 1%, on supply of goods in the course of interstate trade or commerce for a period not exceeding two years or more, as recommended by the GST Council. While this seems to be taking care of the revenue loss to the producing states and the quantum of compensation the Centre has to pay, the existence of origin-based interstate tax along with GST needs to be looked into.

Then, there should be a thorough re-engineering of the department of GST at both the levels. Cross-verification of documents must be strengthened under the new regime. There is need for a proper audit plan to cover different economic activities and a large variety of taxpayers, classified according to the level of turnover of goods and services. Finally, the MIS has to be an integrated activity of the SGST and CGST offices.

The government is working on the GSTN, which can dramatically alter tax administration. All these reforms must precede the introduction of GST to realise its full benefits.

By Mahesh C Purohit
The author is Director, Foundation for Public Economics and Policy Research