Finance Bill 2014-15 passed in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2014-15 here on Friday. The bill was passed by a voice vote and will now go to Rajya Sabha for approval.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asserted that the approach of the government will be to resolve tax related disputes and end arbitrariness.

Jaitley said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is not a high tax government and it will not impose taxes retrospectively.

Referring to the black money stashed abroad, he said, "There is no need to wait for long as the government has already initiated measures, including the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), to bring it back."

"The government is in touch with the French government to get more information about Indian deposits. The government will also cooperate with the Supreme Court in sharing the information about black money," he added.

Jaitley also said that he had held two meetings with the state governments on the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

He assured that the legislation in this regard will be brought within this year.

"GST will help GDP growth, benefiting both the Centre and the states. The Indian economy is doing well and capital markets have already reached a record height," said Jaitley.

Jaitley also underlined the need for expanding the economic activity and said there is a need to fight the slowdown.

He said that the budgetary proposals are aimed at providing a road map to strengthen the country's economy.