‘One Nation, One Tax’: GST Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

Earlier, speaking in the Upper House, Congress MP and former finance minister P Chidambaram had urged the government to cap the GST rate at 18 per cent. The Congress party had also imposed a condition on the government that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley must assure the House that the GST-related bills will be finance bills and not money bills, as they ought to be discussed in both Houses.

Also read | The ayes have it, GST Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

The discussion on the GST bill came after months of discussions between the ruling party and the opposition – with both sides meeting multiple times to negotiate amendments. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha in May, 2016 but in the Upper House, it was referred to a 21-member Select Committee, which submitted its report in July 2015. The bill has not been tabled in Rajya Sabha since then owing to several key objections raised by opposition parties.

The proposed GST would subsume various central (Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duty, service tax, Countervailing or Additional Customs Duty, Special Additional Duty of Customs, etc.), as well as state-level indirect taxes (VAT/sales tax, purchase tax, entertainment tax, luxury tax, octroi, entry tax, etc). Once the Bill is passed, there will only be a national-level central GST and a state-level GST spanning the entire value chain for all goods and services, with some exemptions.

Here is Twitterati reacts to the GST bill:

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cuts a cake after passage of #GST Constitutional Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Sabha.

Still doubt it to be a money bill. FM has assured us that he will talk to us before passing it: Kapil Sibal on GST

With GST, GDP will grow by 1.5 %. This GST will develop the state and country at a faster rate: Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh

“Passage of #GSTBill concludes process of political integration initiated by #SardarPatel by also bringing economic integration,” said Raman Singh.