GST Bill likely in Lok Sabha on April 24

New Delhi: With most states on board, thegovernment proposes to take up for consideration and passage a Constitution Amendment bill in the Lok Sabha tomorrow to roll  out the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "The government will move the bill tomorrow and try to get it passed by Monday," a highly-placed source said. The BJP is likely to issue a whip to its members asking   them to be present at the time of passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill, that requires two-third majority. 

The government proposes to roll out the GST, a new indirect tax regime which will subsume various levies including sales tax, excise, service tax, from April 1, 2016. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday held discussions with state finance ministers on the roadmap for rolling out  the GST, where most states, barring Tamil Nadu, gave their  assent on its provisions. Once the Constitution Amendment bill is approved by Parliament by two-third majority, it will have to be ratified by half of the states.  

The Bill on GST was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last. Jaitley had earlier said that implementation of the landmark GST regime would increase the GDP by 1-2 per cent. The Centre has been working towards addressing concerns   of all states for rolling out the GST on the scheduled date. Certain states have argued that the implementation of GST would be beneficial for consuming states, while for their   manufacturing counterparts like Maharashtra and Gujarat it could be a challenge. 

The Centre and the states have been working on a new Revenue Neutral Rate, which is currently pegged at 27 per cent. RNR is the one at which there will be no revenue loss to the states after GST implementation. The recalculation of RNR is necessary as at present it does not take into account the taxation of petroleum products as also the 1 per cent additional tax which states can levy as   part of the GST Bill.

A single rate GST will replace central excise, state VAT, entertainment tax, octroi, entry tax, luxury tax and purchase tax on goods and services to ensure seamless transfer and end of "inspector raj" as well as "tax on tax," he had said.