Marking another landmark day, the Hon'ble President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, has given his assent to the four key Goods and Services Tax ("GST") Bills, after they were passed by the Parliament. The four GST Bills which are now enacted can be accessed as under:
- The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
- The Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
- The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017
- The Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Earlier, these Bills were passed in Rajya Sabha on April 6, 2017 and by Lok Sabha on March 29, 2017. Recently, with Presidential nod, the much-awaited indirect tax reform i.e. GST further moves closer for the roll out of one-nation-one-tax regime from July 1, 2017.
Now, the State Governments need to pass the State GST Bill in their respective assemblies to switch on to the GST regime, which would be more or less the replica of the CGST and UTGST Bills. Further, in series of steps, the GST rates are to be discussed by the GST Council headed by the Hon'ble Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley on May 18-19 and moreover, decisions regarding bringing of real estate within the ambit of GST or inclusion of petroleum products and alcohol in the GST, will be taken up, one by one, in the foreseeable future.
Source: News 18, Hindustan Times, Economic Times etc.
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