Lok Sabha passes all four GST Bills paving way for July 1 roll-out

All four bills related to GST was passed on Wednesday in Lok Sabha. This will pave way for July 1 rollout of the country’s biggest tax reforms since independence, which will also help create a single, unified market.

The Lower House of Parliament passed the bills by voice vote, after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan initiated clause-by-clause voting at the end of a long debate on GST, .

These legislation are the central goods and services tax (CGST), the integrated goods and services tax (IGST), the goods and services tax (compensation to states), and the Union territory goods and services tax (UTGST).

“These are revolutionary bills which will benefit all. States have pooled in their sovereignty into the GST council, and Centre has done the same,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

Wrapping up the discussion, Jaitley made a strong pitch for a simple tax regime, reminding main opposition party the Congress that seven finance ministers of states it rules have signed off on the provisions of the four bills as part of the GST council.

The CGST will give powers to the Centre to levy tax after excise and service taxes and additional customs duty are subsumed. The IGST will be a tax on inter-state movement of goods and services. The states will pass the state GST or SGST law that will allow them to levy sales tax after VAT and related taxes are counted.

The UTGST is for Union territories such as Chandigarh and Daman and Diu.