New Delhi: Parliament on May 6 completed the three-stage Budget exercise with Rajya Sabha returning the Finance Bill, 2003 after Finance Minister Jaswant Singh promised to move towards simplified "Green Channel Tax System" based on trust.

The Finance Bill, which gives effect to taxation proposals in the Budget, was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.

Along with this, the relevant Appropriation Bill to meet government expenditure for various ministries this year was also returned by the Upper House.

Winding up discussion on the two Money Bills, Singh made it clear that Value Added Tax (VAT) will be introduced in the country only after all states complete preparations for its implementation.

The Minister said with VAT being an important step in reforming the tax structure, he did not want it to become a vexatious tax system with improper implementation.

The lowering of central sales tax and providing compensation to states for any loss in revenue was linked to the implementation of VAT and it would be taken up at an appropriate time, he said.

Elaborating on government's commitment to simplify tax system, Singh admitted the complexities of notifications and said the endeavour would be to simplify them so that the relationship with taxpayers was no longer "adversarial".

It was precisely for this reason that the government was trying to reduce the interface with the taxpayers through computerisation and slowly moving away from discretionary powers.

"The ideal situation has not yet been achieved as it was a complex situation," he said adding though at times it was frustrating, his endeavour would be to correct it through tax system.

Singh said he would strive to create a tax regime based on tax and precisely for this reason the "Green Channel Tax System" was being introduced in all spheres including excise and customs.

PTI