Lok Sabha passes amendment Bill for GST; action now shifts to states

09 Aug 2016 Evaluate

After getting passed in the Rajya Sabha, the long-delayed GST Constitution amendment bill to roll out Goods & Services Tax has cleared the hurdle of Lok Sabha too, shifting this historical reform to states that need to pass it quickly for the Centre to take the next steps.  Lok Sabha unanimously passed the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill recommended by the Rajya Sabha last week. The bill tabled in the Lower House for debate after the GST Constitutional Bill was passed by the Upper House, all 443 members present in the house voted in favour of the bill. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill last year in May, but that underwent some amend.

The action will now shift to the states as the government seeks to get the bill ratified by a majority of the Indian states within the next one month to stay on course for its 1 April 2017 deadline on implementing the seminal tax reform. It also needs to get two more laws to be passed by Parliament in the winter session. At least 16 out of 31 provinces with Assemblies (29 states and two of the seven union territories), or more than half the total, need to pass this Bill before it can be sent for President's assent. The government is in touch with several state governments to get the Bill passed that will create a national market for delivery of goods and services currently fragmented along state boundaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the GST will benefit mainly those states which are considered backward and address the problem of imbalanced development. He acknowledged that manufacturing states will suffer losses but said they will be compensated. He described GST as a "crucial step" towards ending tax terrorism besides reducing corruption and black money and said the new regime of indirect taxation will make consumer the "king".

GST, a destination-based tax, will subsume various indirect taxes at the central and the state levels including excise duty, service tax, value-added tax, entertainment tax and luxury tax. It will remove all barriers across states and integrate the country into a common market. The new tax system is expected to make manufacturing more competitive and speed up logistics among host of other benefits.

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