Rajya Sabha: GST Bill passed

Political parties put aside their differences and participated in a long debate at the floor of the House before passing the crucial bill.

The AIADMK members walked out of the house.

Highlighting that Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill  will eliminate the cascading effect of tax on tax, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley participated in a debate in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

"It is half truth when you say the Centre has a veto over states," Jaitley said in the floor of the House.

"GST will empower the states and will make India strong," he said.

Jaitley said tax avoidance will be more difficult under GST.

As a historic debate on the Goods and Services Tax Bill started in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with the hope  of it being passed, former  Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured his party's support to the bill.

Chidambaram, however, wanted from the Government its assurance that the bill would be passed as a Finance bill.

"My party will support the bill to make it a legislation. But I only want an assurance from the Government that it will be treated as a Finance bill, and not as a money bill. Then both the Houses of Parliament will vote together," he said.

Chidambaram, who was the Finance Minister during the Congress-led UPA regime, said it was his party that  had conecptualised GST and it had never been opposed to it. "We were only opposed the bill in its present form and felt that a better bill was possible," he said.

Chidambaram suggested that once made into a legislation, the uniform tax, that GST stands for, should never exceed 18 per cent.