Gandhinagar: Gujarat Governor O P Kohli today gave his consent to the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill which was passed unanimously by the state assembly in its special one-day session on May 9, to pave way for its implementation in the state along with rest of India from July 1.

The governor has also given consent to Gujarat Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2017 and the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 passed by the assembly the same day.

Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister Nitin Patel, who had tabled the bills in the assembly, today told newsmen that the bills have got the formal consent of the governor.

‘With this the GST bill has become effective in Gujarat. It would be implemented in the state along with rest of the country from July 1,’ he said.

To a query regarding opposition Congress’ allegation that the GST in present form would cause loss to the tune of Rs 8000 crores on the count of VAT, he said that Gujarat government would continue to earn Rs 20,000 crore as VAT revenue over petroleum products and there won’t be any loss on this front owing to GST.

The current VAT act will now be withdrawn after implementation of GST. However, indirect tax in the form of VAT will continue to be levied on petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, crude oil, natural gas, liquor and aviation turbine fuel (ATF). The Value Added Tax (VAT) (Amendment) bill has given rights to levy VAT on petroleum products to the state government.

Apart from the amendment bill on VAT, the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was also necessitated to make adjustments owing to the GST bill. The bill regarding local authorities allows local bodies to collect entertainment tax even after implementation of GST, the said one tax system.

DeshGujarat