President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave assent to Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST), a major step towards rolling out the new indirect tax regime which the Modi Government wants to come into effect from April 1 next year.
The Parliament had on August 8 passed the Bill which was then circulated to State Governments seeking its ratification. A Constitution amendment Bill needs to be ratified by the legislative Assemblies of at least 50 per cent of the States. The Bill was sent to the President's secretariat after as many as 17 States, BJP-ruled Assam being the first, ratified the Bill.
The other States which have passed the legislation include Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Haryana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Telangana, Goa, Odisha and Rajasthan.
Now that the Bill has got Presidential assent, the Government will notify the GST Council, which will decide on the tax rate. Headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Council will comprise State Finance Ministers.