Lok Sabha Unanimously passes 122nd Constitutional Amendment (GST) Bill

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the 122^nd Constitutional Amendment (GST) Bill as amended by the Rajya Sabha. 443 members of the lower house of Parliament unanimously voted in favour of the Bill. The Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill last week.

The Prime Minister, during his speech in the House, termed the tax reform as ‘Great Step towards Transformation/Transparency.’ Addressing the opposition which claimed that it gave ‘birth’ to the Bill, PM Modi said: “It’s true that someone gives ‘birth’ while someone else ‘nurtures it’. It is not a victory of a particular political party,”

The Prime Minister added: “It is true that consumer states will benefit more from GST, but Centre will compensate manufacturing States in case of losses. Our aim is Economical and educational empowerment of the poor. GST can help us achieve this aim.” 

GST is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the consumer. Credits of input taxes paid at each stage will be available in the subsequent stage of value addition, which makes GST essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage. The final consumer will thus bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages. Read more about GST here.