The new goods and services tax (GST) will roll out from the next fiscal year, says finance minister Arun Jaitley. This, despite pending issues regarding direct tax. Jaitley, says the Congress is trying to delay the new tax regime, however, one must remember, it is a transactional tax and not an income tax. He expressed confidence that GST bill will be passed in next session of the Rajya Sabha.

However, he it was not necessary to implement the new regime from April 1, 2016. Also, since it is a transactional tax, it can come into effect from the first date of any other month, Jaitley said. Regarding retrospective tax and minimum alternate tax (MAT) issues in India the minister explained these are over for the future and that transfer pricing has been resolved.

Besides, all macroeconomic parameters now are in the positive territory and GDP growth is expected to outperform 7.3 per cent rate of last year. The positive territory also includes fiscal deficit and inflation. The Chinese economic slowdown, would impact stock markets and added India welcomes Chinese investments in the country. Besides, he mentioned that several sectors are affected by the high cost of capital and that the domestic private sector investments have been slow.

The minister’s tour is intended to attract investors to India. He said the government has prepared a new law to ensure disputes are settled through arbitration in six months to expedite dispute settlement.