Congress to Push for 18 Pct GST Cap


BENGALURU: Congress has asked its chief ministers and finance ministers to actively push their case for an 18 pct GST cap at the meeting of the three-day GST Council beginning October 17. They want to stress the fact that a higher rate would put extra burden on the common man. The party leadership has written to the chief ministers and finance ministers in this regard and asked them to firmly reiterate their case and stress for the capping of the GST rate at 18 pct in the upcoming meeting.

Congress’ point is that a higher rate will put an extra burden on the common man, which would be contrary to the very purpose of GST to create a level playing ground and reduce the burden on both — producer and consumer.

The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, at its first meeting last week, came up with the decision to keep traders with annual revenue of 20 lakh out of the new sales tax regime. The exemption-limit for north-eastern states has been fixed at 10 lakh.

The Council also agreed on the controversial issue of revenue threshold — below which traders will be absolved from GST. The sharing of administrative powers was also discussed in the meeting. The all crucial GST rates will be decided in the meeting to be held from October 17.

It was also decided that the state authorities would have legal authority over assesses with annual turnover of less than 1.5 crore, whereas the traders with turnover of over 1.5 crore would be subject to examination either by officers from the Centre or the State. Congress in its note to chief ministers insisted that the constitutional amendment on GST was passed only after the government gave in to the demands of Congress.

Read Also:

Top 3 Mutual Fund Portfolios to Draw Long-Term Financial Goals

E-Commerce Cos' GMV To Touch $1.5-1.7 Billion In October