India’s proposed goods and services tax is one step closer to introduction, with the completion of ratification procedures by more than half of India’s states.
Odisha was the 16th state to ratify the Constitutional Amendment Bill, which will allow states to tax services.
Lawmakers from half of India’s states (including the two union territories with legislatures) had to agree to the legislation for it to forwarded to the President for approval.
The President’s approval of the Bill will trigger the final negotiations towards the introduction of the levy, which will agree vital elements such as the headline rate. India is reported to currently favor a rate of about 18 percent.
Under the GST proposals, the various elements of the existing indirect tax regime in India will be replaced by a comprehensive dual-GST system, with Central GST and State GST to be levied concurrently by the center (federal Government) and the states, respectively.
Indian Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted: “Glad to inform that we are ahead of our schedule for implementation of GST so far. Instead of 30 days kept for this, it is achieved in 23 days.”
Providing there is no further delays to the introduction of GST, the levy would be in place from April 1, 2017.
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