Constitution amendment bill for GST introduced in Lok Sabha

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today introduced a Constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha to facilitate the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) that would replace all indirect levies such as excise, service tax and sales tax.

Besides this, three more bills, namely, the revised pension fund regulatory and development authority bill, the bill on factoring and assignment of receivables and the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks Laws) amendment bill will also be introduced in the coming days, the finance minister said.

The finance minister sought the cooperation of the members to complete the legislative work in the collective national interest.

Emphasising the importance of staying on course on tax reforms, Mukherjee said the enactment of the direct tax code (DTC) and the Constitutional amendment bill will facilitate the implementation of GST from the next fiscal year.

He said that half-measures in these reforms, by insisting on concessions and exemptions will only add to the complexity and distortions of the tax regime, which will compromise the intended benefits from these measures.

The bill seeks to amend the Constitution with a view to confer simultaneous powers on the centre and states to levy taxes on goods and services.