PM Modi expected to speak about historic GST Bill in Lok Sabha today
NEW DELHI: The historic Goods and Services tax (GST) Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, is scheduled to be taken up and ratified today, Monday, in the Lok Sabha, in a a session that’s expected to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi also debating the bill. While the Lok Sabha passed the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill in May 2015, the separate amendments to some its clauses, passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, have to now be ratified in the lower house. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have issued a whip to all their Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the house today.
The GST is a uniform indirect tax levied on goods and services that will be levied across the country and replace all the various taxes that are currently levied on goods and services.
Six official amendments, including the scrapping of a 1 per cent additional tax, were approved by the Rajya Sabha last week, where the bill was passed with a near unanimous vote. Only the AIADMK walked out.
Today, it is expected the opposition Congress will reiterate that it would like the bill that sets the GST rate to be a finance bill and not a money bill.
Last week in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress it made it perfectly clear it will only approve a later GST ‘rate’ bill if that’s decided by both Houses of Parliament, and not just the Lok Sabha. As well, the standard rate of GST should not exceed 18%, the Congress said.
The BJP has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, and the executive, that is, the Prime Minister, can easily hold sway over his MPs. That’s why the Congress is insistent that the whole of Parliament decide the GST rate, so it’s not set at “the whims of the executive”, as the Congress’s P. Chidambaram said.
After the bill is passed in the Lok Sabha, state legislatures too have to pass bills approving the GST. At least 16 of the 29 states need to ratify the GST Bill and they have to do that 30 days after Parliament passes it. Several Chief Ministers have assured that, if required, they will call a special session for the passage of the Bill in their state assemblies, ANI reported.
The government has said it’s looking at a rollout of GST by the April 1, 2017 deadline.
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