The Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill needed to roll out the Goods and Services Tax is unlikely to be listed in the Rajya Sabha in the remainder of the current session, a top official source told The Hindu . As a result, the roll out of the GST could get pushed beyond 2017, the source said. One reason the government’s floor managers have not gone all out for a “political deal” with the Congress is a design flaw in the GST in its current form.
Some experts in the government believe that the proposed GST is “undesirable”, a senior government economist told The Hindu . “There is a list of products for which States can go for higher than standard rates….a desirable GST is one that will have uniform rates…this is not going to be possible but we should have fewer rates… The current GST has too many rates…it is not a real GST,” he said.
Though no decision has been taken, the view at the Centre is to go for a “better GST”, the source said.
