A committee on GST Design

Meanwhile, to discuss the progress made in the preparation for GST, the then Hon’ble Union Finance Minister met the Empowered Committee on 8th November,2012. In pursuance of the decision taken in this meeting, a Committee on GST Design was constituted under the convenership of the Additional Secretary (Revenue), Government of India and the Member Secretary, Empowered Committee. This Committee consisted of the Central and the State representatives (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Mizoram). The Committee held its deliberations on 6th December, 2012, 18th December, 2012, 19th December, 2012, 9th January, 2013 and 10th January, 2013 and submitted its report before the Empowered Committee which was discussed in the Empowered Committee meeting held in Bhubaneswar on 28th & 29th January 2013. In addition to agreeing to the most of the recommendations of the Committee on GST Design, the Empowered Committee decided to constitute three committees namely:

(i) Committee on the Problem of Dual Control, Threshold and Exemptions,
(ii) Committee on Revenue Neutral Rates for State GST and Central GST and Place of Supply Rules, and
(iii) Committee on IGST and GST on Imports. The interim reports of these Committees were placed before the Empowered Committee meeting held on May, 2013 for consideration. On the advice of the Empowered Committee, these Committees subsequent held several meetings and considered the issues further.