Odisha ratifies GST Bill

Bhubaneswar, Sep 1 (PTI) The Odisha Legislative Assemblytoday unanimously ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill forGoods and Services Tax (GST), paving way for introduction ofthe landmark tax reform. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik moved the statutoryresolution in this regard at a special one-day session of theassembly which was supported by members of all politicalparties barring the lone CPI(M) member who did not participatein the discussion. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on GST waspassed by Parliament recently and Odisha has become the 16thstate to ratify it. Ratification of the Bill by at least halfof the total states was mandated before it is sent for thePresident’s nod. Not touching the controversial point of capping the taxlimit as demanded by the Opposition Congress members, Patnaiksaid, "We will separately request the government of India toconsider state’s concern for imposition of Green Tax onpolluting goods in addition to GST." "We will also request the Centre to take appropriateaction for CST compensation to the states up to 2016-17 forreduction of CST from 4 per cent to 2 per cent," he said. While supporting the resolution, Patnaik said a numberof benefits are expected to accrue not only to the centraland state governments, but also to the consumers, business andindustry from the change over to the GST system. "The overall tax burden on most commodities is expectedto come down. The government will get the benefit of higherrevenue efficiency. The business and industry will find iteasier to comply with," he said, adding that theConstitutional Amendment for the GST marks the beginning of ajourney. "We have to establish the legal framework throughenactment of the GST laws by the Centre and the states, put inplace a robust information technology-based platform foradministering the new tax, manage the change through trainingthe tax administrators and officials, familiarise the membersof trade and industry with the processes of the new taxationsystem and sensitise the public about its effect," Patnaiksaid. PTI AAM SUSKIS