Salient features of draft GST Bill

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there was complete consensus at the empowered committee meeting that there should be no constitutional cap on the GST rate. Salient features of GST BIll are:

* All forms of "supply" of goods and services such as sale, transfer, barter, exchange, license, rental, lease and import of services of goods and services made for a consideration will attract CGST (central levy) and SGST (state levy).

* GST rate not specified in the constitutional amendment bill, as desired by the Congress.

* As GST will apply on "supply", the erstwhile taxable heads such as "manufacture", "sale" and "provision of services", among others, will lose relevance.

* The liability to pay CGST or SGST will arise at the time of supply.

* With GST to be applicable according to whether a transaction is "intra-state" or "inter-state", separate provisions are there to help an assessee determine the place of supply for goods and services.

* States will draft their own State GST based on the draft model law with minor variations.

* GST would be payable on "transaction value", being the price actually paid or payable, and said to include all expenses in relation to sale, such as packing and commission.

* As the threshold limit, the draft GST Bill proposes Rs 10 lakh, and for Northeast states and Sikkim, an amount of Rs 5 lakh.

IANS