(From Reuters)

Parliament approved India’s biggest overhaul of indirect taxes on Monday after the Lok Sabha ratified a constitutional amendment Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a major step to make doing business easier.

Truck drivers walk out of a Commercial Taxes Department check post after getting clearance to cross a checkpoint with their goods at the Chavadi checkpoint on outskirt of Coimbatore
Truck drivers walk out of a Commercial Taxes Department check post after getting clearance to cross a checkpoint with their goods at the Chavadi checkpoint on the outskirt of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, September 5, 2015. REUTERS/Sivaram V/Files

The proposed goods and services tax (GST) is one of the most significant reforms since India opened its economy 25 years ago and the revamping of the tax system since the country’s independence in 1947.

The measure will harmonise a mosaic of state and central levies into a national sales tax, creating a single customs union widely expected to reduce business transaction costs, with potentially significant long-term growth benefits.

The Rajya Sabha, where the measure was stuck for months, passed the bill last week.

Modi hailed the passage of the bill as a “great step by team India, a great step toward transformation, great steps toward transparency.” Read More