Arun Jaitley on 24th April 2015 moved the Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Lok Sabha for consideration, surviving the Opposition over procedure. Almost the entire Opposition raised technical objections and insisted that the bill be referred to the standing committee.

Always Seek Knowledge:

• Given that GST is a Constitution amendment bill that requires two-thirds support.
• The government will push the bill through in both Houses by next week despite the majority of Opposition parties.
• The government plans to roll out GST from April 1, 2016.
• Under current laws only the Centre can impose a tax on services.
•  GST will empower states to collect service taxes.
• About GST
  •  GST will offer a single shot solution by subsuming a welter of local levies into one system.
  • States impose different taxes with varying rates on same products.
    •   For instance, a car’s price will vary among states because of different rates of taxes such as VAT, octroi and road tax.
  •   Under GST all these will be subsumed under a single tax, virtually making India a single market.
  •  Alcohol and tobacco will remain outside GST.
  • States wanted petroleum products to be kept out of GST.
  • Taxes from petro products yield more than a third of states’ indirect tax revenues.