New Delhi: Four GST bills that were tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have been passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The voting was done clause by clause in the Lok Sabha for the bills which were circulated earlier for discussion.
The House had allotted seven hours for holding talks on crucial bills that seek to trigger biggest ever tax reforms.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday had said the government wanted a broad consensus on four key GST laws that were initially tabled in Parliament on Monday. Four GST legislations are Central GST, Integrated GST, Union Territory GST and Compensation GST.
One Nation One Tax will be levied under a four-tier structure defining 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent tax rates. The tax reform has been scheduled to be launched on July 1.
All the GST laws have been clubbed together and are being presented as Money Bill that does not necessarily require approval from Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha is not bound by any law to include amendments in a Money Bill proposed by the upper house of the Parliament.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition had criticised the GST saying that India lost a whopping Rs 12 lakh crore due to years of delay in implementation of the tar reform due to the stiff opposition by the BJP when the UPA government was in power.
Initiating a discussion on the four GST bills in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Veerappa Moily said what the NDA government has brought about in the name of a "revolutionary tax reform is not a game changer but only a baby step".
Criticising various provisions in the proposed GST regime, Moily said it will be a "technological nightmare" and the anti-profiteering provisions in it are "far too draconian."
