Snehal khanna Blog

The realisation of a common indirect tax is critical for the semblance of a common Indian market Latest news : Termed as one of the biggest reforms of India’s complicated indirect tax base since 1991, the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill, enabling the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) seems to have become a reality at last. On March 29, 2017, with the passing of four bills related to different aspects of the GST via the Lok Sabha, the Indian parliamentary system has demonstrated a strong will for enhancing cooperative federalism by signing off on a ‘pooling of sovereignty’ in taxation matters applicable for all 32 states. The realisation of a common indirect tax, like the GST is critical for the semblance of a common Indian market where all goods and services, depending on the elasticity of their consumption, will broadly be governed under a common indirect tax rate system. In an earlier article, I discussed how regressive India’s tax structu...

Latest news : The goods and services tax (GST) is unlikely to be a very bitter pill for the pharmaceutical industry, which feared a substantial rise in drug prices under the new indirect tax regime. While around 80 per cent drugs were put in the 12 per cent GST bracket (up from the current 9 per cent slab), implying a sharp rise in prices, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has stepped in to keep medicines affordable after the GST roll-out on July 1. The pharma pricing regulator has notified the revised ceiling prices of 761 drugs which are part of the Schedule 1 of the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013. According to the revised list issued by the NPPA, prices of most drugs have come down. With this regulatory move, the price increase after the GST roll-out would be marginal as the base price has been lowered. Even as price revision is a continuous process, the latest order may serve to cool the nerves of the pharma industry trying to grapple with the ne...

We are very, very stressed now. We are working 28 hours a day, says Navin Kumar Latest news : A week ahead of the goods and services tax (GST) roll-out, a visibly stressed chairman of the G ST Network (GSTN), NAVIN KUMAR, says that it (the IT backbone of the GST) will be ready by July 15. Although confident of the software, Kumar tells Dilasha Seth it will stabilise over three-four months from the GST introduction. Edited excerpts: With a week to go for the roll-out, what are the thoughts on this? Are you nervous? We are very, very stressed now. We are working 28 hours a day. Are you being flooded with calls and messages from industry and traders? Industry generally talks to the government, but, yes, we keep getting tweets and messages. There was some problem when enrolment was on and the tax department cancelled a lot of registered service taxpayers that had got provisional IDs as they were apparently not active. These 50-60 people lined up at our office. We then refe...