By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 10, 2014: THE much-talked about watershed event in the Indian tax reforms regime i.e., the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and The Direct Tax Code Bill (DTC) still remains an elusive subject - not for the taxpayers but for our Hon'ble Finance Minister. Atleast today’s Budget Speech delivered by Mr Arun Jaitley clearly proves this notion, who clearly avoided to rake up this issue, except for making some customary and carefully drafted escapist statements.

To talk of the GST, the FM displayed a tactful skill in giving a mere passing reference to the ongoing complexities with the implementation of GST and the Federalism-Unitary tussle. While FM today only made an observation that the Govt. is expecting the resolution of this dispute by the end of this year, he clearly avoided making any concrete timeline commitment, which was eagerly expected by the industry. His remarks on the GST concluded with a bare assurance that the Centre would duly consider the interests of the States before finalizing the shape of the GST.

What takes this issue to the level of a puzzle is the confusing signals shared by the Government through the Economic Survey yesterday. Through this Survey, the FM gave some indications about the possibility of 'ekla Cholo re' approach whereby the Centre may opt for 'going alone' syndrome if the States fails to join the bandwagon. However, when the wheel of history offered him an opportunity to share his mind with other Paraliamentarians, he evidently felt coy about it and preferred to relegate the issue of biggest indirect tax reforms to the backseat of his agenda. Unlike his predecessor who never lost any opportunity to talk about GST in his every budget speech, including the Interim Speech, Mr Jaitley clearly showed his preference for finding a more honourable leeway.

The elusive story of the DTC Bill, is also no different from its indirect tax counterpart. It was quite disappointing to come across the FM merely reiterating the obvious that the DTC Bill has lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha session. Then the FM made a template statement that the report of the Standing Committee and the stakeholders shall be duly considered before taking a final view.

In short, the conclusion is, that the fate of the two most vital future legislations of India still hangs in mid-air, let alone any definite timeline of their implementation. The industry and the stakeholders were certainly left wanting and disappointed, atleast on these two crucial counts.