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Arun Jaitley exclusive on GST: July 1 rollout can’t be postponed; petrol has to be brought under its purview sooner or later
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that sooner or later, all the states, will have to give a nod to bring the real estate and petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is all set to rollout on July 1.
New Delhi, June 29: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that sooner or later, all the states, will have to give a nod to bring the real estate and petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is all set to rollout on July 1.
Speaking to Zee Business Editor, Mihir Bhatt, Jaitley said, “It is in interest of states that petroleum be brought into GST.” He also added that when people will start witnessing the benefits of GSTN, they will naturally want to bring petroleum products and real estate under the ambit of GST.
Speaking further, Arun Jaitley informed about the need for rolling out GST on July 1, saying that it cannot be postponed. He also discussed the possible hiccups which can be faced initially after the GST rollout. He also threw light on how GST can turn out to be a real game changer while putting to rest the concerns about GST being inflationary in nature.
Clearing his stand about commodities like liquor, petrol etc being included in GST, Jaitley said that the he believes sooner or later, the states will have to agree to bring the real estate and commodities like petroleum under the purview of GST. “Real estate sector is currently plagued by non compliance”, Jaitley said.
On objections to July 1 rollout of the GST, Jaitley said that the date was pre-decided unanimously. He further clarified that there will be a taxation vacuum if the process is not rolled out by September 15 while hoping that political parties show maturity at the end.
Answering on the objection raised by the trade bodies, he said that grievance redressal systems have been setup which can be reached out. However, he also said that the pressure technique will be of no use. Meanwhile, agreeing that there will be initial hiccups during the transition, Jaitley said that GST will change the way business is done in India. He also said that he is hopeful that J&K will soon comply with GST as otherwise, the consumers and traders have to pay tax twice, once on input and then on the final product.
Watch full interview here:
Denying the fact that GST could be inflationary, he said that the tax rates are reasonable. “Many goods are at 18% which could have been put in 28%,” he was quoted as saying. While hoping that the tax slabs are reduced in future, he also explained that the current four slabs are there to check inflation and to ensure that poor people do not suffer.
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