Within days of the Assam state legislature passing the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on Goods and Services Tax (GST), Bihar has become the second (and the first non-NDA) state to approve the same. CPI-ML has three MLAs but only Alam was present.
Advertisement
The GST Bill will only become effective after it is approved by half of the state legislatures.
The minister told the media in Chandigarh that the passage of the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha was a revolutionary step.
The GST Bill was introduced by Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Bihar’s State Minister for Commercial Tax in the Assembly.
The Bihar chief Minister further said that he had backed the Central Government on insisting that an upper limit for GST should not be laid out in the Constitution because it would then require amending the Constitution each time the rate was to be revised. Similarly, FAITH will also ask the GST council for a below 10% GST rating on domestic tourism. In addition the new tax reform would enable a state to earn a handsome portion from the service tax which earlier used to be an exclusive source of earning for the Union government. “We are supporting it for simplification of the tax system to help the people”, he said. Since he believed GST would benefit the consumer states too, he had been supporting GST.
“With introduction of GST, exemptions regime will come to an end”. To pass any resolution in the Council a minimum of 75 per cent support of members, Centre and states, would be needed which is an assurance that states concern can not be ignored.
Advertisement
“The interactive session underline the endeavour of the government in order to understand and address the apprehensions and concerns of the various stakeholders about GST and also provide a platform for business to express their views on aspects of GST”, the statement said.
