Vikash Sharma

Bhubaneswar: A special session of Odisha Legislative Assembly will meet tomorrow to discuss the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) bill, a mandatory requisite that needs to be followed before the proposed nationwide implementation of uniform GST.

The special session will be held on May 18 and 19, official sources said on Wednesday.

Ahead of the introduction of the State Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill in the Odisha Assembly, a workshop on GST was organised by the Finance Department in Odisha Secretariat today.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said GST will bring about comprehensive reform of the indirect tax regime of the country. It is  a major financial reform which would transform the country into one single market.

Also Read: GST will help GDP grow by 2%, say experts

"GST will bring about comprehensive reform of the indirect tax regime in the country and a major financial reform to make India a single market," Patnaik said.

Patnaik further said that  the enactment of the State Goods and Services Tax will mark the beginning of a journey.  A robust administrative structure and Information Technology based platform has been put in place for successful implementation in the state.

As a large number of Central and State taxes will be subsumed into the GST, the cascading of taxes will be minimised and this will result in benefits to business and industry as well as consumers.

"It is imperative to manage the transition process through capacity building of tax officials and the members of trade and industry," Patnaik said.

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