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August 12: Assam on Friday became the first state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax Bill, after the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill. The state, which has a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government lead by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, is the first of the 29 states, which are to ratify the Bill that was unanimously passed in the Rajya Sabha and then in the Lok Sabha, earlier last week. “Assam will be remembered as the first state in the country to ratify the GST constitutional amendment bill,” a jubilant Sonowal said on Friday. For the GST to be implemented, at least 15 State Assemblies- 50 per cent- need to pass it. But that is just a step towards making the Bill a law.
Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) bills also need to be cleared by both the Houses of the Parliament. The Bill is being touted as the most important tax reform, since Independence. It is expected to mark a movement of the country towards lesser corruption and better transparency and efficiency. The Bill effectively eliminates the plethora of complex taxes on the state and the national level and replace it with one central tax, levied directly by the government. However, Assam State Assembly passing the Bill doesn’t come as a surprise as the State Finance Minister had already mentioned that in his Budget speech. ALSO READ: Subramanian Swamy writes to Narendra Modi against GSTN, bats for govt-owned entity
State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had in his speech while presenting the state budget for 2016-17 dwelt on the GST and the state’s preparedness for adapting to the new taxation structure. The state government had already decided to switch to a new software designed by Infosys for both front-end and back-end users. The Sarbananda government had also proposed a World Bank-assisted project to upgrade the tax-department’s network connectivity.
Assam will be remembered as the first state in the country to ratify the GST constitutional amendment bill: Assam CM pic.twitter.com/m6Ii2sAkbi
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 12, 2016
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