The Key bills which may be passed in the Parliament during Budget Session 2015

The budget session 2015 of the Parliament has begun on 20^th April 2015 in Lok Sabha. It will commence on 23^rd April 2015 in Rajya Sabha. The session will continue till 8^th May 2015. During this session, the Government has lined up many Bills to be passed to accelerate the growth of the economy. Some of the bills are passed in Lok Sabha and are pending at Rajya Sabha. Let’s look at the list of key bills.

1. Finance Bill 2015 – There won’t be many issues in passing this Bill. In all probabilities, the proposed increase in Service Tax rates (to 14%) will be made applicable from around May 10^th or so. (Once the bill is passed and gets the assent of the President.)

2. GST Constitutional Amendment Bill – In all likelihood this bill will get passed. Remember that this is not ‘GST Bill’ It is a Bill which will enable, both centre and states to make laws for levying taxes on every transaction of supply of goods and services. Once this bill is passed, the government has to introduce GST Bill. This won’t happen in budget session. It looks like that the deadline of April 2016 for the implementation of GST is not achievable.

3. The Companies (Amendment) Bill – This Bill proposes significant changes to the Companies Act 2013. Many provisions of the Act are posing hurdles in doing business. So, the government, through this Bill, tried to address some of those issues. The bill will come up for discussion in Rajya Sabha during this session.

4. The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill –      The Bill prohibits all persons from entering into benami transactions. Any property held in Benami shall be confiscated by the central government. The Income Tax authorities will manage the proceedings under this Act.

5. The undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill – As a measure to curb black money, the government has introduced this Bill in the Parliament on 20^th March 2015. This bill deals specifically with disclosure and taxation of undisclosed money held abroad. Hopefully this bill will be passed during this session.

6. The Land Bill – The government has already tabled the amended Bill in Lok Sabha. As it looks, it is unlikely to get the approval in the Rajya Sabha. Maybe, once the bill is rejected in Rajya Sabha, the government will call for a joint session of the Parliament and pass it.

7. Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill – This bill regulates transactions between buyers and sellers/promoters of real estate projects. It proposes to create an independent regulatory authority. Not sure about this bill getting passed in the current session.

Thought for the day

Most important things in life aren’t things.

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