Jammu and Kashmir finally join GST regime

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jul 7, 2017

Jammu and Kashmir has finally joined India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime after the Legislative Assembly passed the state GST Bill 2017 on Friday.
 

Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 was moved by the state’s Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu and adopted by a voice vote after opposition members boycotted the proceedings. The state will enter the GST era from July 8, which is a week later than the rest of the country. 

GST was rolled out across India on July 1 in a special ceremony at the Parliament House in Delhi.

Before moving the bill for consideration and passing by the state assembly, Drabu read out the contents of the presidential order pertaining to the special status of the state and its exclusive taxation powers, a news agency PTI reported.
 
"Although there is no tradition of tabling a presidential order in the assembly, we are starting a new tradition in the democracy of the state by tabling this presidential order in the House.
 
"Notwithstanding anything contained in this order, the powers of the state of Jammu and Kashmir as per Section 5 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, shall remain intact," Drabu said.
 
"The legislature of the state of Jammu and Kashmir shall have the powers to make laws with respect to goods and services tax levied by the state," Drabu read from the excerpts of the order pertaining to the special status and exclusive taxation powers of the state.
 
The legislature of the state of Jammu and Kashmir shall have exclusive powers to make laws in respect of imposition of any taxes enabled by section 5 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

With J&K now boarding the GST bus the government’s dream of one nation and one tax has been successfully implemented in all parts of the country.

However, there have been several protests by various industries regarding high taxation across India. The country is also finding it difficult to make the switch to the new tax system. The Indian government has assured it will answer all concerns in regards to the GST and plans to work tirelessly to walk citizens into the new tax era.