The Indian government has invited stakeholder comments and views on the three reports of the empowered committee of state finance ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST) by October 31, 2015. The three reports pertaining to registration, payment process and refunds in the GST regime will be available on the official website mygov.in from Monday afternoon.

“The draft model CGST, SGST and IGST laws, along with GST business processes for filing of returns, shall also be put up for inviting comments of stakeholders in due course,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement. The government intends to introduce the GST in the country at the earliest.

GST, touted as the most comprehensive indirect tax reform since independence, seeks to subsume many indirect taxes like excise, service tax, sales tax, octroi etc., at the Central and State level to ensure a single indirect tax regime for the entire country.

The government is going ahead with the preparatory work for GST introduction even as the Constitution Amendment Bill remains struck in the Rajya Sabha pending its approval. The government had initially planned to roll out GST from April 1, 2016.

The tax department said last week that GST can be implemented anytime during the year, once the Bill is passed. V S Krishnan, Member, Service Tax, in the finance ministry said that one Committee is already working on the GST rate structure and it will submit its report very shortly. In addition, the Empowered Committee is working with think tank NIPFP on the Revenue Neutral Rate, based on a fresh set of data, he added.

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