US welcomes passage of GST bill

The US has welcomed the passage of the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, saying it would have far-reaching benefits for expanding bilateral trade and investment partnership with India.

"We welcome the passage of the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill," State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told PTI.

It "has potentially far-reaching benefits for the Indian economy and our expanding bilateral trade and investment partnership with India, including greater efficiencies and predictability in its tax regime", Trudeau said in response to a question on the passage of GST by Indian Parliament.

The US Ambassador to India Richard Verma congratulated the Prime Minister and Parliament on passage of the GST bill. It is "an important reform and boost to growth in India", he said in a tweet.

In a historic step for tax reforms in the country, the Indian Parliament had yesterday passed the GST Constitution bill.

"Passing the Goods & Services Tax bill is one of the biggest tax reforms ever in India," said Puneet Manchanda, professor of marketing at the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.

"It has the potential, after an initial period of procedural development, to accelerate the economy's growth significantly," he said.

"This should be seen as a win for economics over politics, a very refreshing change from the norm. This could very well be a defining economic moment for the Modi government," Manchanda said.

"The enactment of the GST in India heralds one of the most significant post-Independence reforms making doing business in India easier and facilitating the easier flow of goods and services across states," said Vikramaditya Khanna, professor at University of Michigan law School.

"Estimates are that it is likely to increase GDP by up to 2 per cent in India, which is already one of the fastest growing economies in the world," he said.

"Passage of the GST bill is a huge boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's credibility as a reformer and as a manager of Parliament. Introduction of the GST will likely prove to be a solid boost to the economy—below the estimates of the original 'dream GST' but certainly an improvement over the existing method of taxation," said Richard M Rossow, the Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.