The Hindu Business Line : Single GST: Centre will share revenue with States

FOR UNIFIED MODE: Dr Parthasarathi Shome, Advisor to Finance Minister, flanked by Mr Anil K. Agarwal, Past President, Assocham (right), and Mr D.S. Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham, at a national conference on `GST for accelerated economic growth and competitiveness', in the Capital on Wednesday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi April 4 In a major move towards moving to single Goods and Services Tax (GST) by 2010, the Finance Ministry has decided to share revenue collections from 33 services with States with immediate effect.

It has also identified another 44 services whose revenue collections would be transferred to them after levy of taxes on such services begins, said Dr Parthasarthi Shome, Advisor to Finance Minister.

While speaking at a conference on GST, organised by industry chamber Assocham, Dr Shome also said that a system would be put in place by the Ministry of Information Technology to exchange information on states' taxes to help them understand one another's tax structure under supervision of the Revenue Department.

He said that with the system in place, it would be easier for states to comprehend other states' tax structure and share information so that a single GST is executed in a uniform manner.

The Finance Ministry has also decided to devise a practical mode of unified GST tax structure, based on the prevalent GST model that exists in countries such as Canada, Brazil and the European Union to suit the requirement of Indian taxpayers.

Consultation processes have commenced among representatives of the Finance Ministry, Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, chambers of commerce and traders and a consensus would emerge within three years for a single GST or national VAT, said Dr Shome.

He said that revenues collected from the 33 services by the Union Government from service tax imposition would be proportionately transferred to respective states.