GST Bill to be discussed in Lok Sabha: Lawmakers brace for marathon session

Legislators in the Lok Sabha will take up the historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill for discussion, consideration and passage in what is expected to be a seven-hour-long session.

The Lower House will take up five GST bills -- for Centre, state, inter-state (integrated GST), union territories, and state compensation taxes. The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, will take up the bills after it is passed in LS.

The GST, which will replace a whole host of indirect taxes and levies with a single tax, is billed as the country’s greatest tax reform since independence. It is expected to ease tax compliance, remove the problem of tax on tax (cascading tax) and create a national market.

The government expects to get Parliament's nod for the four GST bills in the current session, scheduled to end on April 12. The tax is scheduled to be rolled out on July 1.

From providing single registration to manufacturers and suppliers of goods and services to self-assessment of tax, the new tax regime provides easier administration and some degree of self policing -- a buyer can only claim a refund if the seller issues an invoice.

The GST Bill proposes a four-tier tax structure – 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent (plus a peak “sin/luxury tax” rate of 40 percent) – which will be levied on various goods. The idea behind having a multiple tax structure is to slot goods and services near their closest current tax rate: be it on excise, service tax, VAT etc.

This would ensure that the tax’s rollout is least disruptive and does not cause an inflationary spike for some goods and products.

To protect small businesses, the CGST provides for a tax of no more than 1 per cent of turnover for manufacturers with annual turnover of up to Rs 50 lakh. A 2.5 per cent tax is prescribed for suppliers.

Even as analysts are busy combing through the fine prints of the bill, it has sprung up a few surprises with its proposal such as the one requiring e-commerce companies to collect tax at source at a rate not exceeding 1 percent of net value of taxable supplies. Lately, media reports suggest even previously untaxed transactions, such as pick-up drop benefits provided to employees by companies will come under the tax’s ambit.

With inputs from PTI, News18