Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017, paving the way for the state government to implement it from July 1.

As of now, the state government levies value-added tax, entry tax, luxury tax, special entry tax, entertainment tax, lottery tax and betting tax. It also administers and collects central sales tax on behalf of the Central government. Similarly, the Central government levies tax on manufacture of certain goods in the form of central excise duty, certain services in the form of service tax, inter-state sale of goods in the form of Central sales tax.

Prior to tabling the Bill, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said GST was the brainchild of the UPA government, and it was started by then Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

“In 2005, when I was the Finance Minister, the value-added tax was introduced and Karnataka was the first state to implement it effectively. Karnataka is a pioneer when it comes to implementing better tax system,” he said. “All states have been instructed to pass legislation on GST. So far, 25 states have passed this and Karnataka will be the 26th. Our GST is a replica of the Centre’s GST Bill.”

The state government has organised meetings with auditors, industries and other stakeholders on the new tax system. “Associations like FKCCI and KASSIA have agreed to this,” he said.