Finance Bill gets RS okay

NEW DELHI: The three-stage budget exercise was completed by Parliament today, with the Rajya Sabha returning the Finance Bill 2003 which gives effect to the direct tax proposals. The Finance Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week.
Winding up the debate in the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Jaswant Singh promised to move towards simplified green-channel tax system. ``We will strive to create a tax regime based on trust and precisely for this reason the green-channel tax system was being introduced in all spheres, including customs and excise’’, Mr Singh said.
The finance minister also held that the shift in duty structure on edible oils (from 8% ad valorem to a specific duty of Re 1 per per kg) has led to a reduction in prices. The ex-factory price of 15 kg tin of some brands have dropped by Rs 47 and I am confident that the prices would drop further in the coming weeks’’, Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh also made it clear that the service tax would not be applicable to any formal education but to tutorials and multiple acadamies preparing for IAS and so on. The budget has proposed bringing commercial vocational institutes, coaching centres and private tutorials under the ambit of service tax.
The relevant appropriation bill to meet government expenditure for various ministries this fiscal, was also returned by the upper house.