Recently, the Lok Sabha made another step towards implementation of GST across the nation by passing two significant bills to the Jammu & Kashmir. There were two bills passed by the lower house in which it includes Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir), Bill, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir), Bill, 2017.
Both bills were introduced to provide an extension of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 to Jammu and Kashmir, while other is an extension of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax IGST Act, 2017 to the State. The extension of GST to the state is a progressive step for the state and the nation.
The minister mentioned that the special status of the state is not at all infringed by any activity of GST and extension of bills. He added that “A national party like Congress should not have got into it. The argument against GST was given by the separatists as it would lead to greater integration with India.”
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He also defended the rates decided on various products like hybrid cars and sanitary napkins, stating that, “The GST Council has a lot of experts. There are a lot of Finance Ministers and many of them are economists. Therefore, we have the benefit of their services. All the States decide. The State Commissioners are also technical people who have learned this trade. So, they are not fixing up these rates casually.”
Overall, the finance minister made his point of talks at the maximum and eventually targeted the hits of J&K and rates issues in one go.