Goa Assembly set to ratify GST Bill tomorrow

Panaji, Aug 30: The Goa Assembly has convened a day-long special session tomorrow to ratify the Goods and Service Tax Bill, a senior official said today.

The Governor has summoned the fourteenth session of the Sixth Goa Legislative Assembly to meet at 11.30 AM tomorrow at Assembly Hall, Porvorim, Goa, State Legislature Secretary Nilkant Subhedar said.

He said the session has only one agenda and has been especially called to ratify the GST Bill. The main Opposition Congress has already said that they will be supporting the Laxmikant Parsekar led government on the floor of the House to ratify the Bill.

Leader of Opposition Pratapsinh Rane had told reporters last week that the impact of new tax legislation on the tourist state should be studied.

"But as Congress has supported the Bill in Parliament, we would also be doing same in the Assembly," he had said.

Parsekar during the recently concluded monsoon session of the Assembly had announced that the special session would be held to ratify the GST.

The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (Goods and Services Tax) Bill was passed by Parliament on August 8, marking a historic step for tax reforms which Prime Minister Narendra Modi said was "crucial" for ending tax terrorism besides reducing corruption and blackmoney while making consumer the "king". The government has set a deadline of April, 2017 for GST rollout.

PTI