Govt hopes to pass the GST bill in the monsoon session

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which was long-pending, will be taken up in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while expressing confidence that the bill will be passed.

"The Finance Minister has said that in the coming monsoon session we will bring the bill (in the Parliament) and we have full expectation that we will pass it," Sitharaman told the media in Jammu.

She further said that the Finance Minister is focussing on the GST matter and is speaking to all the political parties to support the bill.

"Jaitley had a discussion with the Finance Ministers of all the states at the council meeting on GST held in Kolkata a week earlier," she said.

The monsoon session of the Parliament is expected to start from July 18th and last till August 13th. However, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is set to meet on June 29th to take a final call on the schedule.

With improved strength in the Upper House and support from several opposition parties, the government is hoping to get the Bill passed this monsoon session in the Rajya Sabha.

The government has already missed the deadline for implementation of the GST regime from April 1 2016, on account of strong opposition by Congress and other parties, to pass the crucial tax reform. However Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said that all the states have agreed to support the GST Bill.

After the State Finance Ministers meeting recently held in Kolkata, he said that all the states are in favour of the proposed legislation, excluding Tamil Nadu, which has few reservations.

The GST is being considered as a major tax reform by the current government which can contribute 1-2 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.

The GST Bill has already been cleared in the Lok Sabha.