The Bill is listed for consideration in the Upper House this week.
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The government’s decision to move these four amendments have helped to bring the Congress on the same page as far as the Bill is concerned.
GST will replace so many different taxes that builders now pay, many of them bordering on double taxation, with one single tax.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The GST was first mooted by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
The Congress said on Monday that it was prepared to accept every reasonable solution on the GST Bill but added that the consultations are still on. The Congress, in particular, the largest party in the Rajya Sabha, with 60 of 245, refused to budge from its stance, while other parties like AIADMK and the Left also opposed it.
For Parliament, the act of passing the national unified Goods and Service tax bill has been akin to moving a mountain.
The others pertains to a new formulation on a dispute-resolution mechanism and an endorsement of the resolution by the empowered committee of state finance ministers on a revenue-neutral rate to bring down the incidence of tax on the common man while protecting revenues of states.
The benefits under the government’s flagship program “Make in India” should continue to enjoy patronage under the GST regime, the body said, adding that businesses have made substantial investments and also given that fruition of such schemes is realized over a period of time.
The whip comes ahead of the vote on the proposal in Parliament and after the Government wins the support of most parties through negotiations.
It was agreed at that meeting that the 1 per cent additional levy over and above the central and the state GST would be dropped. The state governments maintain that the tax rate should neither burden the consumer and nor should it result in a revenue loss for them. Most state governments that Jaitley consulted last week did not want to forgo their right to set the tax rate.
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The legislation was approved by the Lok Sabha in May last year and introduced in Rajya Sabha in August last year where it has been pending because of opposition from the Congress party over certain provisions.
