BackGujarat assembly passes GST Bill in special session
The Gujarat Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2017 was passed unanimously
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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat assembly on Tuesday passed the State Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in a special one-day session held at Gandhinagar.
The Parliament had earlier passed four legislations related to GST for a nationwide rollout on 1 July, following which state assemblies were required to pass the state GST bills. On Tuesday, Gujarat joined other states including Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Bihar in passing the state GST bill.
The Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017 was passed unanimously. Opposition Congress leaders Shankersinh Vaghela and Shaktisinh Gohil sought certain changes in the bill to be presented before the GST council.
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Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who also holds finance portfolio, told the house that Gujarat, predominantly engaged in manufacturing activities, would lose some tax income after the rollout of the new indirect tax regime under GST. He further said that the five-year compensation offered from the Centre should suffice to compensate the projected losses.
Ratification of the new bill in state assemblies is mandatory for the rollout of GST from 1 July, 2017.
The existing Value Added Tax (VAT) Act will now be withdrawn. However, indirect tax in the form of VAT will continue to be levied on petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, crude oil, natural gas, liquor and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
“GST will abolish all the taxation-related disputes between states and this will make Indian economy more strong. After implementation of GST, the state will lose some tax income, but the Centre has agreed to provide 14% compensation for the next five years," Patel said in his address to the house.
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Leader of Opposition in the house and Congress leader Vaghela stated that it was BJP which had earlier stalled passage of GST citing the losses. “The bill was recently passed in Rajya Sabha thanks to former prime minister Manmohan Singh. We are thinking beyond party interest and in the larger interest of nation, we are supporting you to pass the bill in Gujarat assembly."
Congress leader Gohil suggested that taxes on petroleum products be minimal to bring the inflation under control and cap the GST at 15%.
“In about 190 countries, there is GST or other similar taxes. But they are capped at 14.5-16.8% even in high-income countries. We suggest the upper limit in the GST be capped at 15%," he said.
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