The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its meeting held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley, approved the draft Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Bill and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Bill after legal vetting by the Union Law Ministry. This decision marked a crucial milestone in the implementation of GST, as it enabled the Central Government to introduce the two Bills in Parliament for passage during the ongoing Budget Session. The approved Bills laid down the core framework of the GST regime, including a State-wise single registration for taxpayers, largely online compliance with minimal physical interface, and a simplified return structure requiring a single return per State covering all supplies, including inter-State and export transactions. The Bills prescribed a registration threshold of Rs. 20 lakh, with a lower limit of Rs. 10 lakh for special category States, and introduced a composition scheme for small businesses with turnover up to Rs. 50 lakh, offering lower tax rates and minimal compliance. Key features also included seamless availability and cross-utilisation of input tax credit across CGST, SGST, UTGST, and IGST to avoid cascading of taxes, retention of the Input Service Distributor mechanism, fast-track provisional refunds for exporters, and provisions for advance ruling, appeals, anti-profiteering, transitional arrangements, and instalment-based tax payment in cases of hardship. The press release also noted that the SGST and UTGST Bills, largely mirroring the CGST framework, would be taken up for approval in the subsequent GST Council meeting after legal vetting.