Cabinet likely to approve GST Bill Wednesday

New Delhi: With states on board, the Cabinet is now likely to approve the Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST Wednesday, paving the way for tabling of the the new legislation in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

The revised Bill, which takes into account the deal reached between states and Centres on contentious issues, could be taken up for approval by the Cabinet tomorrow, sources said.

The government wants to introduce the Bill in the ongoing winter session that concludes on December 23.

In a compromise deal, the Centre last evening had decided to keep petroleum out of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) in return for states agreeing to entry tax being subsumed in the new indirect tax regime proposed from April 2016.

The launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been hanging in balance for about seven years now as states were concerned about their revenue losses on introduction of the new tax regime.

The GST Bill needs to be cleared by at least half of the states, besides Parliament, before its implementation.