Gujarat becomes the sixth state to ratify GST

He claimed that the right of the State government to collect tax on its own was being snatched away by the Bill.

GST Bill was unanimously ratified by the members with a voice vote after a discussion in a day-long session. Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have already ratified the GST Constitution Amendment Bill. “I think this threshold should be made Rs 25 lakh”, said Sisodia.

“There is no clarity on certain issues”. It should not be brought down. Chief minister Chouhan and finance minister Malaiyya explained that opposition to the new tax system ended after the NDA-Centre chose to exempt petrol and alcohol from the purview of GST.

Sisodia advocated that businessmen whose turonover is up to Rs 1.5 crore should pay taxes directly to the state government.

While introducing the Bill, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who handles the finance portfolio, said the Congress- led UPA government had failed to evolve consensus in various states to ensure passage of the legislation.

“We have certain concerns regarding GST”.

Before Sisodia moved the resolution, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta and his party colleague Jagdish Pradhan had staged a walkout from the assembly.

“Gupta ji wants to avoid discussion on GST as he will have to support it in the Assembly”, Sisodia said.

GST is a far-reaching tax reform that aims to forge a common market and remove inter-state barriers to movement of trade in goods and services.