Maharashtra becomes tenth state to ratify GST Bill

The Haryana assembly on Monday passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

“With required number of states ratifying the Bill, there is a thinking that the Winter Session should be advanced to around November 9 or 10, after the festivities, including Chhath Puja”, he said.

The Bill has already been ratified by Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Nagaland.

Referring to apprehensions expressed by Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP about impact of GST on BMC’s octroi revenue, Fadnavis said, “Octroi is paid to BMC by the rest of the State as petroleum companies do not pay the same”.

“Under the proposed law both the States and the Centre can levy service tax”.

Thane: MNS chief Raj Thackeray has said GST should be collected by local self-government bodies instead of the Centre. Sources had earlier said the finance ministry would hold consultations on the GST rate -which several states suggest should be upwards of 20% to protect their revenue-as well as other legislations which need to be cleared by Parliament during the winter session.

Constitutional amendments affecting Centre-state relationships be ratified by more than half of the state legislatures. “There will be revenue loss only on account of Octroi duty in Mumbai getting subsumed under GST”.

Ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena and Opposition NCP are busy discussing with their respective legislators the GST ratification bill which will come up before the Maharashtra legislature on 29 August.

Senior Congress leader and former state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has said there are still some concerns which they want the Centre to address.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar assured the house that the autonomy of the State will not be in danger because of the GST. The party was also anxious that the GST would lead to loss of Octroi, which fetches Rs. 7,000 crore in revenue to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

“While we can have a detailed debate when the legislation regarding the tax rate and implementation of the regime is tabled later in the state legislature, we (the Shiv Sena) demand a firm assurance today that a mechanism for direct transfer of funds to the BMC would be devised”, she said. “One Tax. Biggest ever economic reform in India!”, Fadnavis said.

Passed by Parliament recently, the GST bill needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council which will decide the new tax rate and other issues.