The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, on Saturday said he was hopeful of passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill for the Goods and Services Tax by Parliament in the second half of the Budget Session.

Noting that GST is already belated, he said Parliamentary obstructionism of late has delayed it from being implemented.

“The next session (of Parliament) is extremely important. Halfway through the next session, the numbers of the Upper House will change. So I am extremely optimistic of pushing it through,” he said, while addressing the trainee officers of the Indian Revenue Service.

The Narendra Modi Government was eyeing the deadline of April 1, 2016 for the roll-out of the indirect tax reform but after facing opposition from the Congress, it is now planning to implement it from the middle of the year if the crucial Constitution Amendment Bill gets cleared by Parliament.

Jaitley said the Centre will also continue discussions with states to chalk out the modalities of GST. “After the Constitution Amendment Bill is passed, three more legislations will have to be passed to give full effect to GST,” he said.

Taxation law

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister also stressed that taxation in India is directly linked to the ease of doing business and asked the officers to strictly and fairly interpret taxation laws without any deviation.

“In taxation law, if a tax is payable, it is payable…there is no compassion…or consideration,” he said, adding that the interpretation may also lead to a loss of revenue.

But deviation from the principles of taxation laws to increase revenue collections can cause panic among investors, he stressed, while referring to the retrospective amendments in the Income Tax Act, 1961.

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