Goa paves way for new tax regime after it becomes 15th state to ratify GST

Goa today became the 15^th state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, paving the way for the legislation to be notified by the President to the GST Council.

During a day-long session of the assembly convened today, all the members of the House unanimously passed the resolution ratifying the GST with Opposition MLAs cautioning the state government over implication of the new tax regime in Goa.

Ruling out any negative impact on the new tax regime, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said it would instead help sectors like service and tourism, bringing in more revenue to the state.

He said the Centre has already assured to compensate for five years, if there is any loss in revenue during implementation of GST. Parsekar termed the GST Bill as “historical, revolutionary and far sighted”.

“Many thought that NDA with no majority in the Rajya Sabha would not be able to pass the Bill in the Upper House. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi managed to overcome this barrier,” he said.

The Chief Minister also thanked all the Opposition parties for helping to pass the GST bill in Parliament and also in the (different) state assemblies.

“At least 50 per cent of the states need to ratify this Bill in their Houses. Out of 29 states, Goa became the 15^th state to do it, making it a historical occasion,” Parsekar said.

He claimed that the GST implementation will help the economic growth of the state. Speaking in detail, Parsekar said Goa is a service driven state but was not beneffitting from the (service) tax.

“There are many manufacturing industries in the state.  But their corporate offices are in other states due to which those states were benefitting. The GST has provisioned that at least 50 per cent of the service tax from the industries should come to Goa,” the chief minister said.

Parsekar calculated that at least Rs 1,000 crore would be annually added to the state exchequer in form of Service Tax. He pointed out that the taxation on petroleum products, alcohol and brewery, royalty on minerals, vehicle tax and stamp duty will remain in the mandate of state government as it is kept out of GST.