GST Bill - Arun Jaitley progresses a step forward

Whereas the legislative sessions in Parliament have been productive and efficient in passing several bills including all important Finance Bills and Bankruptcy code, all eyes are now set on the status of GST bill , touted to be the biggest tax reform in the nation since 1947. 

Finance Minister in his renewed attempt to get Congress on board, showed willingness to cut 1 percent additional tax for manufacturing states, by suggesting that the states will be requested to drop the additional tax to accommodate the opposition party's demand. 

However Arun Jaitley urged Congress to not be fixed on capping GST at 18 percent. This demand by Congress of capping the GST at 18 percent is not realistic as the luxury items will then will be difficult to tax, for  both  State Government and Central Government. 

GST bill is a much awaited tax reform and various experts have predicted that the tax reform shall add at least 1 percent to the GDP's growth.  However few consumer states are crying foul as the GST bill will be more beneficial to the states that are producing and selling goods to other states, while the consumer state may be at a disadvantage, and hence more time is being consumed to iron out the differences and clarify the doubts.