Himachal Assembly ratifies Constitution Amendment Bill on GST

Shimla, Aug 22 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh Assembly todayunanimously ratified the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Billpertaining to Goods and services Tax (GST). The monsoon session of the Assembly began today. The motion for ratification of the Bill, as passed byboth Houses of Parliament, was moved by Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh. BJP members, who had earlier in the day staged a walkedout, rushed to the House to support the Bill. The motion wasadopted unanimously without any discussion. With this, Himachal Pradesh became the fourth state afterAssam, Bihar and Jharkhand to ratify the Bill. The GST Bill, seen as single biggest tax reform in along time, needs to be ratified by at least 15 statelegislatures before the President can notify the GST Councilwhich will decide the new tax rate and other issues. The government has set a deadline of April, 2017 forits rollout. PTI PCLSMN