finance ministers

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with Finance Ministers of different States and Union Territories to get their inputs for General Budget 2011-12, here today. This was the seventh such meeting in the series of pre-Budget con Full Article

Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee held a pre-Budget meeting with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories, here today to deliberate on issues that would have a bearing on the annual Budget for 2010-11. In his inaugural speech, Shri Mukherjee said that this meeting is a unique exercise and provides valuable input s to Finance Minister to formulate General Budget and expressed hope that this meeting with the Finance Ministers of States becomes an annual .. Full Article

The date for rolling out the Goods and Services Tax could be announced on January 8, the Chairman of the Empowered Committee on State Finance Ministers, Asim Dasgupta, said today. "There will be a joint statement after a meeting with Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on January 8 on GST rollout," Dasgupta told reporters on the sidelines of the 23rd industrial trade fair, organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. Full Article

Further to the First Discussion Paper released by the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on 10 November 2009, the Finance Commission has released its report giving its recommendations on GST design implementation. Full Article

These recommendations differ considerably from the model and structure of the GST envisaged by the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers (EC) as described in the First Discussion Paper released by the EC on 10 November, 2009. The differences relate to several critical areas such as the tax base, tax rates, threshold limits, taxation of inter-State supplies of goods and services, exemptions/ compounding schemes and taxation of alcohol, tobacco and petroleum produ.. Full Article

The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, or PMEAC, has favoured asingle slab each for goods and services or one common rate for both under the proposed goods and services tax (GST), unlike the proposal mooted by the states.“The Centre could follow the pattern in which there is only one rate for goods and one rate for services, or one rate which is common to both goods and services,” PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan said. Full Article

In spite of the optimism shown by Asim Dasgupta, chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers, the much-anticipated goods and services tax (GST) is unlikely to be introduced on April 1, 2010. The process of Constitutional amendment to bring the new indirect tax legislation may take another five months. “It will take 5-6 months for the amendment and everything else to fall in place. Besides, wecannot start work on things like IT infrastructure as long.. Full Article

The Centre has turned down the proposal of the empowered group of state finance ministers to keep alcohol out of goods and services tax. The government has in fact suggested that both alcohol and tobacco, which are demerit goods and considered harmful for health, should be kept under GST, with the states getting the power to levy excise duty over and above GST on alcohol. The Centre would have the same power in case of tobacco. Full Article