Govt to introduce Constitution Amendment Bill on GST in Lok Sabha next week

The government is likely to introduce the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST in Lok Sabha early next week, as the Finance Ministry is gearing up to implement the tax measure from April 1 next year. The Rajya Sabha had approved the Bill on the Goods and Services Tax.

Six official amendments, including scrapping of one per cent additional tax, were moved by the government which were approved by an overwhelming majority in the Upper House.

The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier. Now it has to go back to the Lower House to incorporate the amendments approved by the Rajya Sabha. The bill will also have to be approved by 50 per cent of all the state assemblies.

Earlier on Thursday, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that the government is looking at April 1, 2017 as the target date for implementation.

Adhia added that within the next 30 days, we expect 50 per cent of the states—about 16 -- to approve the Constitution Amendment Bill.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured that the government is aiming for an optimal rate of taxation under GST regime though the final decision will be taken by the GST Council.

While the opposition is demanding for capping the interest rate at 18 per cent.

Once implemented, the GST will subsume various taxes including excise, services tax, octroi and other levies and the proceeds will be shared between the Centre and states.

Instead of goods being taxed multiple times at different rates, under the new GST regime goods would be taxed at point of consumption.