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GST bill to be taken up by Lok Sabha tomorrow

The BJP has issued whip to its 282 MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

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After facing fierce opposition over the Bill for nearly a year, the government succeeded in bringing all major opposition parties, including Congress, on board and it was passed in the Upper House with an overwhelming majority on August 3.

On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha had approved the bill with an overwhelming majority.

Lok Sabha is set to take up the GST Bill for passage on Monday during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will intervene, even as the Centre today continued efforts for its early ratification by the state assemblies.

The BJP will do its bit.

Aiming for early implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), top central ministers have spoken with nine chief ministers of NDA-ruled states to ensure that the constitutional amendment is ratified by state assemblies at the earliest. The suggestion from the government to these states is to call a special Assembly session, if need be, to pass the bill, sources said.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac claimed the proposed amendment to clause 10 of the bill of the 122nd amendment was not discussed at the Empowered Committee meeting. Now it has to go back to the Lower House for incorporating the amendments approved by Rajya Sabha. The council will have on it representatives of both the centre and states – with the states dominating, Mr Jaitley has stressed to allay worries that the centre will sideline them.

State governments widely support the GST because it will boost their share of taxes and make cross-border trade far smoother.

Subramanian said a relatively low rate reduces the chances of it being inflationary and improves compliance while a high tax rate raises chances of tax avoidance.

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The much-awaited GST Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on the government, putting an end to the decade long back and forth on what is deemed the biggest tax reform in India since 1947.

GST would reduce cost of locally manufactured goods and services KASSIA