Cant implement GST by April: FM

In a candid admission for the first time,finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today told Parliament that the April 2010 deadline for implementing the Goods and Services Tax GST would not be met. When asked whether state finance ministers had expressed the opinion that it was not feasible to implement the new indirect tax regime as scheduled,Mukherjee said yes in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The proposed Goods and Services Tax is envisaged to replace most of the indirect taxes at the central and state levels. However,after several meetings and brainstorming sessions,the states have not been able to form a consensus on critical issues such as the tax base and the rate.

Asim Dasgupta,chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers,had last month said that the scheduled GST deadline was not feasible as the constitutional amendments required were yet to be finalised. The finance minister is scheduled to meet state finance ministers in early April to discuss the introduction of GST.