The Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2006 had set April 1, 2010 as the date for introducing a national level Goods & Services Tax (GST). In its series of Guest Lectures and Thought Leadership programmes PetroFed, therefore, organised a lecture on ‘The Roadmap to Integrated GST' by Sh. S. Madhavan, Executive Director, PwC on April 7, 2006 at the SCOPE Convention Centre, New Delhi .

Introducing the subject Session Chairman Sh. B.D. Gupta, Former Director (Finance), Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Former President JM Morgan Stanley Ltd. said that GST, if introduced as per schedule would have far reaching implications on Indian Industry. There could not be a better person to speak on the subject, said Sh. Gupta, as Sh. Madhavan, who heads the PwC Indirect Tax practice in India and has 22 years experience on application of indirect tax laws and served a broad range of clients in all its aspects, including custom duties, excise law, service tax and sales tax. Sh. Madhavan has been significantly involved in the introduction of VAT in India , advised State Governments in its implications and carried out various VAT impact assessment studies. He is a Management Graduate from the Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad, a Fellow Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, a member of Indirect Tax Appellate Tribunal Bar Association and the International Fiscal Association and the Delhi Management Association.

In his presentation, Sh. Madhavan spelt out the current Indirect Tax structure in the country, the major milestones in Indirect Tax reform since independence, the nature of GST and the proposed roadmap alongwith the implications for the petroleum sector and the international experience. According to Shri Madhavan, there may be one Central VAT at 14% by April 1, 2008 and one State VAT at 12.5% by April 1, 2009 with both merging into 20% GST by April 1, 2010 . Singapore , Sh. Madhavan said has GST of only 5% while in China it is about 19%. Change management, he said, would be crucial since the States would have to give up their right to levy taxes.

The high level of interest was evident by the large number of questions raised by senior industry members including former CMDs and heads of Finance from the full house present on the occasion.

Click here to view presentation. (right click Save As...)