Special session of Bihar Legislature on August 16 to ratify GST

PATNA: A special one-day session of both the Houses of Bihar Legislature has been scheduled for August 16 for ratification of the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST.

The one-day session of the Bihar State Legislative Assembly was called by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary for ratification of GST Bill, its Secretary Ram Shreshtha Rai told PTI today.

The Bill has been supported by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second Amendment) Bill, 2014 on GST has already been passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The GST Bill, seen as single biggest tax reform in a long time, needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council which will decide the new tax rate and other issues.

Assam yesterday became the first state to ratify the Bill.

The government has set a deadline of April, 2017 for its rollout.