•Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST): Proposal approved on 17th December 2014
•Proposed Articles: A new Article 246A is proposed which will confer simultaneous power to Union and State legislatures to legislate on GST. A new Article 279A is proposed for the creation of a Goods & Services Tax Council which will be a joint forum of the Center and the States
•Proposed Policies: GST rates will be uniform across the country. However, to give some fiscal autonomy to the States and Center, there will a provision of a narrow tax band over and above the floor rates of CGST and SGST.
Center will compensate States for the loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the GST for a period up to five years. A provision in this regard has been made in the Amendment Bill (The compensation will be on a tapering basis, i.e., 100% for first three years, 75% in the fourth year and 50% in the fifth year)
It is proposed to levy a non-vat-able additional tax of not more than 1% on supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. This tax will be for a period not exceeding 2 years, or such period as recommended by the GST Council. This additional tax on supply of goods shall be assigned to the States from where such supplies originate
