SME Times News Bureau | 26 Dec, 2009
The date for the commencement of the much-awaited goods and services tax (GST) to replace a plethora of federal and state-level levies is expected to be announced Jan 8, according to the chairman of a high-level panel on the subject.

"There will be a joint statement after a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Jan 8 on goods and services tax rollout," the West Bengal finance minister and Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT, Asim Dasgupta, said in Kolkata Friday.

"We have a two-day meeting from Jan 7. We will meet the finance minister before giving

a statement on this," Gupta told reporters on the margins of the 23rd Industrial Trade Fair organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

His comment came a day after stating that it will be difficult for the federal and state governments to implement the goods and services tax regime from April 1 as targeted and that it will comeinto force at an "appropriate time".

Dasgupta did not comment when asked whether consensus with all the states had been arrived for the GST.

The new regime is intended to achieve the larger target of a common pan-India market and uniform indirect taxes on goods and services across the country at lower rates by doing away with the cascading effect in the present format.