Rising above party politics, former PM Manmohan Singh asked the Congress not to seek changes in four GST bills in the spirit of "maintaining consensus and federal agreement."
India's dream to have 'one nation, one tax' that took seed in 2006 finally crossed the last hurdle on Thursday with Rajya Sabha passing all the four bills related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) without any amendments.
Rising above party politics, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Congress not to seek changes in four GST bills in the spirit of "maintaining consensus and federal agreement."
The four bills – the Central GST Bill, 2017, the Integrated GST Bill, 2017, the GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017 and the Union Territory GST Bill, 2017 – have already been cleared by the Lok Sabha, where the government has a big majority.
Congress that was supposed to press for several amendments through Jairam Ramesh and thus could have scored brawny points by forcing the bills to be returned to the Lok Sabha and voted again, withdrew all its amendments when the deputy chairman called for it.
"Yesterday, former Prime Minster Dr Manmohan Singh asked me not to move the amendments because it will send a wrong signal for the federal system. This is the difference between the former PM who was a statesman and the present PM who is a politician," said Ramesh explaining why hewas not pressing for amendments.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Left parties looked a little dejected when Ramesh did not press for the amendment. Despite requests by Jaitley not to press the amendment as it would set a precedent of discord in the creation of GST, Derek O'Brien of TMC insisted on seeking a division even after losing the voice vote.
Like Ramesh, O'Brien had sought an amendment to mandate parliamentary approval of recommendations made by the powerful GST Council, which is made up of state finance ministers and is headed by Union finance minister.
Lacking Congress support, the amendment was disapproved by 113 to 11 and 9 absentees.
Giving the credit to the previous Congress-led UPA government, Opposition members and the states for coming on board in support of the GST bills, Jaitley said it would help the government in rolling out the historic GST from July 1 across the country.
Allaying fears after an eight-hour-long debate, Jaitley said the GST will not lead to inflation as is feared by some sections. It will rather usher in a uniform indirect tax regime in the country, he said.
The finance minister said once the GST is implemented, businesses in India can operate peacefully as the harassment in the hands of different authorities will end.
The GST Council, which comprises the Centre and states, has recommended a four-tier tax structure – 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. On top of the highest slab, a cess will be imposed on luxury and demerit goods to compensate the states for revenue loss in the first five years of GST implementation.
The GST rate will be levied on goods and services that fall close to it as per the current tax rate, said Jaitley.
In the case of J&K, which has a separate arrangement because of Article 370, the state government will bring a separate legislation to integrate itself in the GST, he added.
“On 17-18 May we will give final approval to rules and rates, looks like it can be implemented from 1 July. I am happy at the fact that when it comes to enforcing GST bill all political parties came out in one voice,” said Jaitley, who looked visibly relieved after passage of all the four bills.
After bailing out the government in Rajya Sabha, Dr Manmohan Singh, however, struck a cautionary note saying that the GST could be a game changer but it cannot be assumed that there will be no difficulties on the way.
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