The Assocham President has said that the GST bill is going to be the ‘Brahmastra’ (divine secret weapon) for India’s GDP. It is going to challenge the global times in the most fantastic manner.
With the onset of the winter session of Parliament, the government has paved a way for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, calling it a Brahmastra of global times. If speculations are to believe, then passing the GST bill is one among the most potent financial agenda of the BJP-led government. The coming of GST Bill will affect the India’s GDP by 2 percent at least. It is notable that the Lok Sabha has already passed the bill- now the response from Rajya Sabha is awaited.
So how the GST Bill will be beneficial for the nation?
With the onset of the GST Bill, the government will bring the good and service tax that will consider a couple of indirect taxes like the Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, VAT, entry tax, luxury tax, octroi, and so on. The introduction of GST bill will initiate a ‘one-step’ process for tax collection. Rather than spending time on each and every part of the supply chain, the GST bill will pay equal weight to all the parts.
GST bill will provide concurrent powers to both Parliament and state legislatures, which in exchange will make it a law. The Union Finance Minister, Union Minister of State for Revenue and State Finance Minister, will head the GST council. With the GST Bill, the council will recommend rates of tax, additional tax, the period of levy, supply principles, and special provisions for certain states.
With the help of the GST Bill, the Centre will have the power to impose an additional tax of 1 percent on the inter-state supply of goods. The state that would be the originator of supply will take charge of the tax. According to this change, the inter-state trade will become much more expensive then intra-state trade.
The latest bill has removed the exemption of Alcohol on human consumption. By law, the Parliament will now provide compensation to states in case of any loss of revenue. It can happen up to the duration of 5 years now. It is notable that the entire process of tax collection will become much easier and robust with this latest update.