A fresh start: On the Goods and Services Tax Council meetÂ
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was convened last week for the first time in nearly nine months. With 11 new State Ministers on board and a recalibrated NDA government at the Centre, the Council began afresh with a loaded agenda of clarifications, tweaks, forbearances, and other procedural changes, based on industry feedback and vetted by officials, that awaited its nod. Acknowledging that it could not conclude deliberations on all that had accumulated on its plate, the Council has resolved to meet again in August to take up the rest of the items. Yet, it is quite creditable that the Council could, over an afternoon preceded by Union Budget consultations with States, arrive at a consensus on a flurry of issues aimed at easing the lot of taxpayers, reducing litigation, and even ...