The government's plan to roll out the Good and Services Tax (GST) by next April is unlikely to be met as an expert has suggested not to rush through with the country's most ambitious tax reform initiative. This may bring some relief to the UPA as it will provide more time to thrash out a consensus on the issue and get all the state governments on board. 

The delay in the report of the parliament's standing committee on finance, which is reviewing the Constitutional Amendment bill needed to implement GST, has also provided some breathing space to the government to stitch together a consensus on the issue. 

"This tax will be in place for the next 50 years. It should not be rushed through unless all the nuts and bolts are in place," an expert who has forwarded his views said, when asked whether the government would be able to implement the rollout by April, 2013. "It is better to be prepared and ensure that everything has been put in place.

There cannot be any scope for reworking the plan once you implement it," the expert, who did not wish to be identified, told TOI. While no decision has been taken so far to postpone the launch, indications are that it is likely to be delayed. The government is going ahead with the preparations needed for the launch of this initiative as it awaits the report of the standing committee and the empowered group of state finance ministers builds a consensus on the tax reform that is expected to usher in massive gains for the economyand help create a common market. 

Work is on for setting up the GST Network (GSTN). Former finance minister Pranab Mukherjeein his 2012-13 budget speech in March had said that the GSTN would be set up as a National Information and Utility and would be operational by November, 2012. Mukherjee had hoped that the government would be able to implement GST by next April. 

Chairman of the parliament's standing committee on finance Yashwant Sinha said the panel's report on the constitution amendment bill is unlikely to be presented in the monsoon session, which ends on September 7, as the finance ministry had delayed the reply to questions sought by the committee. "So, obviously because of the delay by the ministry of finance we are not in a position to submit the report in the monsoon session," Sinha told TOI, adding that the panel had not finalized any fresh date when the report would be submitted. 

He said the amendment was a very crucial one and will have to be "very carefully considered". "It is a complex subject which seeks to change what the fathers of the constitution had ordained," Sinha said. 

The government has identified the rollout of GST as one of the key reform measures that will help signal the government's commitment to reforms and help boost revenues and growth. The rollout of GST has missed several deadlines in the past. Initially, it was scheduled to be launched in April, 2010, but the date was shifted as consensus eluded the government. Several states have expressed concern on various issues linked to GST and the empowered group has been trying to enlist support for this reform measure. (Times of India)