Our Correspondent
Kohima | August 26
The 13th (special) session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) today unanimously ratified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill 2014.
In the absence of Nagaland State Chief Minister TR Zeliang (who was to move a resolution for ratification of this amendment bill), Minister for Social Welfare & Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie moved for introduction, consideration and adoption of the resolution to ratify the 112 Amendment Bill, 2014 (GST Bill), as passed by both the Houses of Parliament.
Minister for School Education & SCERT, Yitachu; Parliamentary Secretaries Khekaho Assumi, Er Levi Rengma, S Hukavi Zhimomi and MLA Imkong L Imchen participated in the deliberations and voiced their concerns regarding whether it would benefit a consumer state like Nagaland and whether the taxes department is equipped to handle the matter.
Peseyie told the floor of the House that GST system will bring transparency since taxation system will be online and revenue should go up due to check on tax evasion and also industries may prefer to set up units because of the uniform tax policy.
He said the Bill passed by the Parliament contains provision for consideration of special status states like Nagaland. He also assured the House that at the time the state GST Act and Rules are being framed, “we shall be having opportunity to extensively examine and discuss the entire act and rules in its entirety, and ensure that our concerns are adequately addressed.”
On queried as to how far the taxes department is prepared to carry out online transaction of taxes, Peseyie replied that almost all activities of the department are already online even under the current VAT regime. There is a substantial percentage of payment of taxes online already. He said the centre will provide all necessary support for infrastructure and software systems before GST is put in place.
Also replying to another query, Peseyie said GST is an Indirect Tax regime, meaning, it does not include Income Tax which is a direct tax. However, all Indirect Taxes will get unified under the GST regime.
“This ratification is only for enabling the Parliament to amend the Constitution of India. The specific laws applicable to the Center and the states will be framed separately at a later date in consultation with all stakeholders,” he replied. NLA Speaker Chotisuh Sazo said the current session is for ratifying the Constitutional Amendment Bill which seeks to amend taxation powers of the centre and the states. Subsequently, the GST Act and Rules will be framed and will have to be passed by the Parliament as well as the state legislatures before GST is put into effect.
“Therefore, the GST Council will first have to finalize the draft laws before it is placed in the respective Houses. The document which is now available in the public domain is just the model GST laws seeking comments from all stakeholders. Hence, it was felt not necessary to place the draft laws before this august House during the current session. It will be circulated prior to the session when the SGST Act is taken up for passage in this House,” Sazo said.
Later, the NLA Speaker adjourned the house sine-die after obituary reference was made to the passing away of former MLA Y. Shangyu, report to the assent of Governor on two bills and laying of the service rules of the Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Department.
