Govt introduces Constitution Bill in Lok Sabha for GST

New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Indian government Tuesday
introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, the
lower house of Indian Parliament to facilitate implementation
of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), an indirect tax regime
that would subsume levies like excise, service tax and sales
tax.
The Bill, introduced by Indian Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee seeks to amend the constitution with a view to
confer simultaneous powers on centre and states to levy taxes
on goods and services.
"The GST would replace a number of indirect taxes
presently being levied by the central government and the state
governments and is intended to remove cascading of taxes and
provide a common national market for goods and services", said
the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill.
The Bill provides for creation of a GST Council to be
headed by Union Finance Minister. The Council will be
empowered to recommend tax rates and exemption and threshold
limits for good and services.
Besides, the bill proposed a GST Dispute Settlement
Authority to deal with grievances of the centre and the state
with regard to GST.
The GST, which is considered to be a major tax reform,
has been pending for the last four years due to differences
between centre and some states over the structure of the new
tax regime.