Goods and Services Tax Bill to be tabled in Winter Session of Parliament

Showing clear intent in reforming the indirect tax regime within a time frame, the government will bring in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made the announcement at the Citibank Investor Summit in the national capital on Monday.

Parliament is scheduled to convene November 24 for the month-long winter session.

Seen as a key to facilitating industrial growth and improving the business climate in the country, the GST Bill needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament and by the legislatures of half of the 29 states to become a law.

Last week, the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST met and expressed hope that the new tax regime could be implemented by the proposed date - April 1, 2016 - notwithstanding their differences with the central government over some key provisions.

The committee in August resolved to lower the threshold limit for imposing the GST on companies from a turnover of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

The central government has written to the committee suggesting that the threshold annual turnover for levying the GST should be increased to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.