Rajasthan, Bihar call special sessions on April 24; Assam will also have a similar one by May
Rajasthan and Bihar have called special sessions of their respective Assemblies to pass the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bills on April 24. Assam, too, is likely to have a special session of its Assembly to pass the Bill by the second week of May, said a senior official of the state government.
Telangana was the first state to pass the SGST Bill. Its Assembly approved it unanimously last Sunday.
Rajasthan and Assam have Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments. The parties and alliances at the helm in Bihar and Telangana are not part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. That these two states have been proactive about getting the Bill passed underscores Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s repeated claim that negotiations over the GST rules and laws were carried out in an atmosphere of consensus.
All 29 states and two of the Union territories that have legislatures — Delhi and Puducherry — need to pass the SGST Bill in the next 70-odd days, if the GST regime is to be rolled out by July 1.
Officials in the GST Council are in contact with various state governments to spur them to hold special Assembly sessions soon to pass the Bill.
The GST Constitution Amendment Act, enforced last year, warrants that the tax regime is implemented by September 16. As Jaitley has said often, if the GST is not rolled out by that date, there will be no indirect taxation in the country.
“So, all states, in enlightened self-interest, should ensure that the SGST Bill is passed soon,” a government official said.
Sources said newly constituted Assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab would pass the SGST Bill by the end of May.
The SGST Bills are replicas of the Central GST Bill passed by Parliament. Besides this Bill, those related to Union territories without legislatures, inter-state movement of goods and services, and compensation to states have been enacted.
Industry already has an understanding of the new tax regime. It is awaiting four pending rules on inputtax credit, composition, transition, valuation and fitment of items in the five GST rates — 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. A cess over the peak rate would be imposed on luxury, sin and polluting goods such as aerated drinks, big cars, cigarettes and coal.
The GST Council will take a call on the item-wise rates and the pending rules in its meeting on May 18 and 19 in Srinagar. The CGST and the other Bills are not automatically applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, because of a special status given to the state by the Constitution.
The finance ministry officials have said fitment of items in the GST rates would be a mechanical exercise, with the rate closest to the current one on a particular good or service being applicable.
Business Standard New Delhi,19th April 2017
Rajasthan and Bihar have called special sessions of their respective Assemblies to pass the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bills on April 24. Assam, too, is likely to have a special session of its Assembly to pass the Bill by the second week of May, said a senior official of the state government.
Telangana was the first state to pass the SGST Bill. Its Assembly approved it unanimously last Sunday.
Rajasthan and Assam have Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments. The parties and alliances at the helm in Bihar and Telangana are not part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. That these two states have been proactive about getting the Bill passed underscores Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s repeated claim that negotiations over the GST rules and laws were carried out in an atmosphere of consensus.
All 29 states and two of the Union territories that have legislatures — Delhi and Puducherry — need to pass the SGST Bill in the next 70-odd days, if the GST regime is to be rolled out by July 1.
Officials in the GST Council are in contact with various state governments to spur them to hold special Assembly sessions soon to pass the Bill.
The GST Constitution Amendment Act, enforced last year, warrants that the tax regime is implemented by September 16. As Jaitley has said often, if the GST is not rolled out by that date, there will be no indirect taxation in the country.
“So, all states, in enlightened self-interest, should ensure that the SGST Bill is passed soon,” a government official said.
Sources said newly constituted Assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab would pass the SGST Bill by the end of May.
The SGST Bills are replicas of the Central GST Bill passed by Parliament. Besides this Bill, those related to Union territories without legislatures, inter-state movement of goods and services, and compensation to states have been enacted.
Industry already has an understanding of the new tax regime. It is awaiting four pending rules on inputtax credit, composition, transition, valuation and fitment of items in the five GST rates — 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. A cess over the peak rate would be imposed on luxury, sin and polluting goods such as aerated drinks, big cars, cigarettes and coal.
The GST Council will take a call on the item-wise rates and the pending rules in its meeting on May 18 and 19 in Srinagar. The CGST and the other Bills are not automatically applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, because of a special status given to the state by the Constitution.
The finance ministry officials have said fitment of items in the GST rates would be a mechanical exercise, with the rate closest to the current one on a particular good or service being applicable.
Business Standard New Delhi,19th April 2017
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