The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax has been deferred to July 1 from the earlier April 1 deadline. “There was a broad view that July 1 is a more realistic date to rollout GST,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitey said on Monday, following the ninth meeting of the GST Council.

States will assess 90% of all GST turnovers of Rs 1.5 crore or less, while the rest will be assessed by the Centre’s administrative machinery, Jaitley said, adding that GST turnovers over Rs 1.5 crore will be assessed in a ratio of 50:50. “All ministers present agreed to this proposal, except the finance minister of West Bengal [Amit Mitra], who did not agree with the limited division of assessment for assesses with a turnover of below Rs 1.5 crore,” the Union minister said.

“The power to levy and collect IGST [integrated GST] tax is with the Cente, but as per a special provision in law, states will be cross-empowered in same ratio,” Jaitley said. The minister had been unable to reach a consensus on the subjects of dual power and cross empowerment in GST council meetings so far. The council’s next meeting is on February 18.

Discussions about the new tax regime include deliberations over the clauses of the three draft laws that deal with the tax – the central GST, the integrated GST and the compensation for states. The primary draft law of the CGST and SGST were approved by the council.

The draft laws were set to be introduced in Parliament during the Winter Session, but the Centre will probably place them for discussion during the Budget Session, which is likely to start on January 31. As the sixth meeting of the council on December 11 ended inconclusively, the April 1 deadline set for the rollout of the GST was ruled out.

The GST Bill had got President Pranab Mukherjee’s approval on September 8, after being ratified by 16 states. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3. It seeks to replace India’s complicated tax regime comprising 17 different charges with a single levy.