Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed his confidence that Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would come into force from April 2016. He said, 'GST bill is a constitutional amendment bill.... We hope that all the formalities required for its adoption by Parliament and consent from half the states will be over for its proposed implementation from April 1, 2016.'
Earlier, Jaitley had said that the government could miss its deadline to implement a key tax law amid criticism of the pace of economic reforms after a year in office. But has now reiterated that government is going to make every effort to ensure that there is no delay and we meet the deadline. He added that passage of GST and the land acquisition bill would be the priorities of the government in the next session of the Parliament.
FM has said that GST Bill will lead to the economic integration of India and higher revenue for States, “The entire country will become one uniform market… and it will be an economic integration of India.” According to the Finance Minister, India will become one uniform market where there is a seamless transfer of goods and services. States’ share of revenue will go up and economic activity and growth will also improve.
The government got the 122nd Constitutional Amendment - Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Lok Sabha passed, but due to lack of majority in the upper house and constant opposition from Congress and few other parties, it referred the bill to select committee of the Rajya Sabha for further review. The government has set a deadline of April 1, 2016, for introducing the key GST, which will replace overlapping state and federal levies and create a common market to boost the economy.