Karnataka govt convenes special session to ratify GST Bill

The Congress government in Karnataka decided to convene a special session of the state legislature on September 14 to ratify the the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill.

"One day special session of both the houses of the state legislature will be held on September 14 at 11 am in Bengaluru to table the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill," Law and Parliament Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said in a statement after a Cabinet meeting here.

The Parliament earlier this month had passed the long pending bill to amend the Constitution that would facilitate roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Seen as single biggest tax "reform" in a long time, it needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council which will decide the new tax rate and other issues.

Maharashtra and Haryana had on Monday ratified the GST bill taking to 11 the number of states which have cleared the landmark tax reform.

Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nagaland are the other states that had earlier ratified the Bill.