Finance Ministers of all the states in the country would meet Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on February 14 in New Delhi to discuss the framework of the goods and services tax (GST).
During the meeting, Chidambaram is expected to seek the nod of the state finance ministers on the framework of GST so that a broad outline of the indirect tax regime can be included in the next Budget.
It may be recalled that a few weeks ago, the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers reached a broad consensus on the design of GST, under which the states will be free to decide on the time of its introduction.
Moreover, the states had agreed to a lower payment of Rs 34,000 crore for phasing out the Central Sales Tax, a pre-condition for rollout of the GST.
According to some reports, Chidambaram may recommend certain changes in the GST Bill to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance after his meeting with state finance ministers.
Chidambaram had recently told state finance ministers that he would include a broad outline of the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST in his Budget speech if there was a consensus. The Union Budget is scheduled to be presented on February 28.
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