The BJP led state of Assam made headlines by being the first state ever to pass the Goods and Service (GST) tax Bill.
The GST is the biggest reform in the country’s indirect tax structure, the 122nd Constitutional Amendment was recently passed by the Rajya Sabha. And was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday, with 443 members present in the House voting in favor of the bill. The government also announced that the deadline for the rollout of the bill would be April 1, 2017.
In a quote to ANI published in Indian Express, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda said, “Assam will be remembered as the first state in the country to ratify the GST constitutional amendment bill,” “I declare the Bill, which was passed by both Houses of Parliament, to be ratified unanimously by Assam Assembly,” Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass announced in the House.
Minister for Finance Himanta Biswa Sarma said Sonowal had wanted Assam to become the first State to pass the amendment as this would send a positive signal to the industry. In a quote to PTI Sarma stated that “We have always lagged behind, but want to be the first in passing this Bill. This is a historic proposal. I thank the Speaker for allowing us to introduce it today after we informed him just last night,” He also added that the state is likely to incur a revenue loss of INR 3,000 crore in the initial period of its rollout.
However the finance minister stated that any shortfall of tax collection compared to the existing numbers will be compensated by the Centre as grants for the next five years, taking 2016-17 as the base year.