The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill passed in the upper house of the Parliament on Wednesday after it got the nod from the main opposition party, Congress, finally after a seven-hour long debate. The bill is already approved in Lok Sabha last year.
In the 243-member house, 203 members voted in favor of GST while no one voted against it. The exact tax rate will be decided in weeks or months ahead.
The finance minister Arun Jaitley, on Wednesday, in Lok Sabha said, “The GST bill will empower the states, will increase revenue of states as well as Center. It’ll ensure that there is not tax on tax.”
Although the Congress has approved the bill in the upper house, it has made it clear that it will support the bill only if the taxation rate approves in both the houses of Parliament and not just Lok Sabha. The Congress has also said that the the standard tax rate should not cross the maximum limit of 18%.
While thanking the Congress for the support, Mr. Jaitley said, “There has been major consensus building that has taken place. I am extremely thankful to all opposition parties especially Ghulam Nabi Azad (of the Congress).”
Senior leader of Congress P Chidambaram also applauded the government for bringing all the parties into discussion over an important amendment. He said, “I am glad FM acknowledged that it was UPA govt. That first officially announced the intention to bring GST. I hope the finance minister will pass the GST bill not on strength of numbers but the strength of his arguments.”
Congress-led UPA government was the first, who tabled the bill in Parliament but could not pass it following the major oppose from the opposition parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2011. In 2014, BJP-led NDA government tabled the bill but this time the main opposition party Congress had expressed its disagreement over few clauses of the bill.
In 201f, finance minister Arun Jaitley had consulted with all the opposition parties and had done few changes in bill as he wanted all the parties on board as most of the parties are in favor of the single tax regime.
Also Read: GST Bill Taken Up For Discussion In Rajya Sabha; AIADMK Still In Oppose
By Prajakt K.
