We need GST in place by Sept 2017 or else India won't function: Jaitley

Dated 2nd December, 2016

Demonetisation is the new normal confronting black money which was a norm in India for seven decades, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

"Black money has been a norm in India for seven decades, we want to confront it and create a new normal," Jaitley said at the Hindustan Times Leadership summit in New Delhi.

Stressing the importance of passing the Good and Services Tax Bill, he said if GST is not in place by September 2017, the country won't be able to function.

 Jaitley said "If some states are seen as opposing every reform. Then investors in this country and outside will decide which states to invest (in)."  He also said  "The Constitution does not provide for delay in GST" which has been cleared by law as parliament. The government hopes to clear supporting legislation for the reform in this session of parliament.

He said the demonetisation move would ensure that political funding become "transparent".

"Today each person gets assessed for tax at least thrice. In future, the effort is to simplify and ensure just one assessment," he said.

"We are at the cusp of change and the battle between the taxman and the people who try to beat the system will continue," he added.

He also said that demonetisation was just "one step out of the many" that the Centre has taken.

"We have taken a lot of steps in international financial co-operation to ensure real-time sharing of information. The impact of tax evasion is that budgets end up having deficits both at the Centre and in the states," he said.

(This article is published in Business Standard on 2 December, 2016)