Defer goods and services tax? Mumbai court reserves order

Mumbai city news: The petitioner, KS Pillai, urged the court to direct the government to “defer the implementation till the beginning of the next financial year”

The Bombay high court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea seeking implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) be deferred.

The court was hearing a public Interest litigation in the Bombay high court, challenging the union government’s decision to implement the GST, a “major tax reforms in the middle of the financial year”.

The petitioner, KS Pillai, urged the court to direct the government to “defer the implementation till the beginning of the next financial year”.

On Thursday, however, additional solicitor general Anil Singh, who appeared for the Centre, said the decision to implement GST had been vetted by Parliament and its implementation was in “everyone’s interest.”

Singh said there was “no prohibition” in law to prevent the Centre from implementing GST at any point in the year, as long as it had the sanction of Parliament.

He also said the Centre and state governments had created help desks, telephonic helplines, etc. to ensure an easy transition.

Singh said the new system entailed “a single registration, it was online, transparent, reduced paperwork,” and that “65 lakh tax payers had already shifted to the new system”.