Amit Shah summons CMs of BJP ruled state on August 27 to ratify GST

New Delhi: After the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah has called on Chief Ministers of the party ruled states to ratify the tax reform bill. The meeting will take place on August 27 in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Shah is also scheduled to helm a meet of all BJP ruled state core groups in the national capital on August 23 to get a direct feedback about various states.

The bill was approved by the Upper House after a seven-hour debate with 203 votes in favour and none against on Wednesday evening.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the rolling out of the GST Bill will increase opportunities for ease of doing business in India as the tax rates are likely to come down.

"I am sure once the GST is rolled out, doing business in India would be easier, and it will help large body of traders, business people and citizen of India enjoy easy taxation," he told a press conference here.

With this major step in the direction of having a uniform tax in the country, Jaitley said the imposition of tax will eventually impact the cost of many goods and services in the country.

The biggest tax reform since Independence, the GST Bill, was approved by the Rajya Sabha to replace a raft of different state and local taxes with a single unified value added tax system to turn the country into world's biggest single market.

"The constitutional amendment was pending for a long time, predominantly because Rajya Sabha was not able to reach a consensus," said Jaitley expressing his delight over the passage of bill.

The 66-year-old Constitution, which gives power to Centre to levy taxes like excise and empowers states to collect retail sales taxes, was amended though the 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill.