Lok Sabha passes GST bill

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SME Times News Bureau | 06 May, 2015
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday gave its consent to a far-reaching amendment to the Constitution to pave the way for a pan-India goods and services tax regime and create a unified market across the country, doing away with multiplicity of central and state levies.

The relevant Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second Amendment) Bill, 2014, was passed by a division with 336 ayes, 11 against and 10 abstentions. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan announced the bill was approved with two-thirds majority of the hosue, as required.

Commenting on the GST Bill passed in the Lok Sabha, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, "We welcome the passage of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 in Lok Sabha as a milestone reform which would help reduce tax-on-tax and would be beneficial to the industry."

"We are hopeful that the Bill would get the assent of the Rajya Sabha also in the current session of Parliament with the support of all the political parties," he added.

The provision of an Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) system where only the centre may levy and collect GST on supplies in the course of inter-state trade or commerce, which would then be divided between the centre and the states, would provide the much needed clarity and transparency to the indirect tax system in the country. As the volume of trade expands and growth momentum picks up, every state will benefit with the rise in their revenue collections, while industry and common man also stand to gain.

"In our view, this is the first step in making India a single market. In terms of providing incentive to industry, this is the most extensive and far reaching reform in the tax domain, which would encourage industry to grow significantly," he added.