28.3.17

Jaitley tables GST bills in Lok Sabha

The government introduced four tax reform bills, aimed at rolling out the much-awaited GST, in the Lok Sabha. The bills were introduced by finance minister Arun Jaitley despite objections from the opposition over the procedures of introduction of the proposed legislation.

The opposition members asked how the government could introduce the bills when these were not listed in the agenda of the House for Monday. They said they were not given enough time to study the proposed legislation. Once passed by Parliament, the bills-Central GST, Integrated GST, Union Territory GST and the Compensation Law--will implement the one-nation, one-tax regime. The government proposes to launch GST from July 1. It is estimated that rolling out of the GST can add up to 2% to India's economic growth. Jaitley had on Saturday emphasised the urgency to pass the GST laws during the current session, saying the Centre and the states will otherwise lose their right to collect indirect taxes after September 15.

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