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One India market soon as Rajya Sabha clears GST
NEW DELHI: India’s plan for a unified market under the goods and services tax (GST) moved closer to the finish line on Wednesday as the Rajya Sabha passed the 122nd
NEW DELHI: India’s plan for a unified market under the goods and services tax (GST) moved closer to the finish line on Wednesday as the Rajya Sabha passed the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill, even as a few disputes remained unsettled.
At the end of a seven-hour debate, there was no clear picture on the tax rates. The Congress batted for a cap on the GST, but finance minister Arun Jaitley maintained that the government will try to keep the rate “moderate”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to thank leaders of all parties on the “truly historic occasion of the passage of the GST bill in the Rajya Sabha”.
“We continue to work with all parties and states to introduce a system that benefits all Indians and promotes a vibrant and unified national market. This reform will promote (Make in India), help exports and thus boost employment while providing enhanced revenue,” he said in a series of tweets.
The landmark legislation — first introduced by former finance minister P Chidambaram in his 2006-07 budget speech — will give further impetus to ease of doing business in the world’s fastest growing major economy.
“The GST regime will be a modern, better system that will help taxpayers, seamless transfer of goods and services across (the) country and check evasion. Some economists believe it will also give boost growth rate,” Jaitley said.
During the debate, Chidambaram said there is a broad consensus among opposition parties that the standard rate of 18% would be an “appropriate rate”, it would be non-inflationary, and it would be “something that could be sold to the people of India and it would be something that would not lead to tax evasion”. The rates will likely be specified in the sub-ordinate legislations that will have to be passed after the central law is enacted. These include the state GST law, the central GST law and the inter-state GST law.
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