After Assam, Bihar Assembly ratifies GST Bill

Bihar on Tuesday became the second state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax Constitution Amendment Bill.

The one-day session was called by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary for the ratification of the Bill.

The GST Bill was introduced by Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Bihar’s State Minister for Commercial Tax in the Assembly.

Counting virtues of the GST, Kumar said it would bring transparency in tax collection and distribution among the Centre and the states. “Further, GST will broaden the tax base, and result in better tax compliance due to a robust IT infrastructure”, Jaitley said. “Moreover, the Centre has made provisions for 100% compensation for the first five years”, Modi said during his 45-minute speech in the legislative council which ratified the GST. The Bill was cleared in the Rajya Sabha on August 3 and its amendments passed in the Lok Sabha on August 8.

The NDA wants to get the bill ratified by 16 states by the first week of September in order to stay on course for its 1 April 2017 implementation deadline. The BJP-led alliance is in power in 14 states.

So, to enable a timely rollout of GST the Government needs 13 states to validate the Bill.

The GST Bill will only become effective after it is approved by half of the state legislatures.

“Bihar has been supporting GST Bill for the past decade”. GST will simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime.

The government is aiming to table the central GST law and the integrated GST law in the winter session of Parliament.