India's GST History

 It was during the tenure of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister sixteen years ago when the concept of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) for India was first proposed. After that, on February 28, 2006, the Union Finance Minister at the time suggested in his Budget for 2006–07 that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) be implemented on April 1, 2010.

It was requested that the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers (EC), which had created the State VAT design, develop the structure and roadmap for the GST. Joint Working Groups comprising representatives from the States and the Center were established to scrutinize diverse facets of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and prepare reports primarily on exclusions and thresholds, service taxation, and inter-state supply taxes. In November 2009, the European Commission published its First Discussion Paper (FDP) on GST, drawing from talks both within and between the Central Government. The current GST legislation and regulations are based on the FDP, which outlined the characteristics of the proposed GST. In an effort to permit the imposition of GST, the Constitution (115th Amendment) Bill, 2011 was presented in the Lok Sabha in March 2011. But when the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved in August 2013, the Bill expired because of a lack of political agreement.  The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill 2014 was presented to the Lok Sabha on December 19, 2014, and it was approved in May 2015. On May 14, 2015, the Bill was brought up in the Rajya Sabha and referred to the Joint Committee of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. On July 22, 2015, the Select Committee turned in its report. Following that, on August 1, 2016, the Constitutional Amendment Bill was moved in accordance with political consensus. On August 3, 2016, the Rajya Sabha passed the bill, and on August 8, 2016, the Lok Sabha did the same.  After ratification by required number of State legislatures and assent of the President, the Constitutional amendment was notified as Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016 on 8th September, 2016. The Constitutional amendment paved way for introduction of Goods and Services Tax in India.