GST Bill Passed: One Country, One Tax

Rajya Sabha has just cleared country’s biggest Tax Reform, the Goods, and Services Taxes Bill. This will bring uniform taxation across the country and is likely to contribute extra 1% to the country’s GDP. GST will come into effect from the next financial year after it gets cleared by the states which are more of a formality.

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GST ensures that there is no Tax on Tax in the country. Except for AIADMK which staged a walkout as a protest against the bill, all the parties have voted in favour of the bill. State governments will be losing their incomes with this taxation, but then the center has agreed to compensate the loss for the first five years.

Parliament has discussed for seven hours long on the bill. This is the 122nd amendment to the Indian Constitution. Congress which holds a majority in Rajya Sabha is blocking the bill from the last couple of years. But government managed to achieve the break-through by convincing all the stakeholders.