Minister claims credit for resolving GST issues
The Tamil Nadu government claimed it had “consistently raised” many issues with the Centre regarding Goods and Services Tax and succeeded in getting many of them reddressed “to its satisfaction.”
By : migrator
Update: 2017-07-12 19:39 GMT
Chennai
Commercial Taxes minister KC Veeramani recalled that former chief minister Jayalalithaa had in 2014 “cautioned that certain key issues would have to be resolved to facilitate a smooth rollout of GST.
The issues included impact of GST on the fiscal autonomy of states and loss of revenue on account of lower taxes on declared goods, he told the state assembly. The issues included impact of GST on the fiscal autonomy of states and loss of revenue on account of lower taxes on declared goods, he told the state assembly.
Tamil Nadu had “consistently raised” these issues in Parliament as well as in other fora and it was largely due to the concerns voiced by the state that many of the provisions of the constitutional amendment bill were suitably modified, he said.
Further, the state has voiced its concern on many aspects during the 18 meetings of the GST Council, he said, adding “as a result, it (TN) has succeeded in getting many of the issues redressed to its satisfaction.”
Issues that were redressed included providing compensation to states for loss sustained due to the implementation of GST, he said. “The provision for special treatment of Declared Goods has been removed, thereby protecting the revenue interests of the state,” he said. “The provision for special treatment of Declared Goods has been removed, thereby protecting the revenue interests of the state,” he said.
Subsequently, alcoholic liquor meant for human consumption has been kept out of the GST ambit even as petroleum products have also been kept outside the purview of the new tax regime, he said.
Meanwhile, Opposition Congress and the government were involved in a debate over Tamil Nadu implementing GST. When Congress Legislature Party leader K R Ramasamy wanted to know “whether Tamil Nadu was supporting or opposing GST,” Veeramani said many changes had been accommodated in the GST as per the state’s insistence. He said the issues can be discussed in the GST Council and solutions can be arrived.
Finance Minister D Jayakumar, who intervened, said there would be a “constitutional breakdown” if a state did not accept a Central law. The state has taken adequate measures to uphold its fiscal autonomy, he added.
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Samadhan scheme introduced post-GST to collect tax dues till June 30
- Rs. 9.88 crore allotted for construction of buildings for 10 sub-registrar offices and installing CCTV cameras
- Rs 26.4 lakh for integrated commercial taxes building at Tirunelveli
- Rs.1.04 crore building for commercial taxes at Tirukoilur in Villupuram district '
- Rs.98.51 lakh for commercial taxes assistant commissioner’s office at Avinashi in Tirupur district
MPs meet Edappadi K Palaniswami
About 35 AIADMK MPs, mainly those who support the AIADMK(A) faction met chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami at the secretariat on Wednesday. Sources revealed that the meeting was in connection with the Presidential election slated for July 17. They were reportedly advised to vote in support of the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. Meanwhile, ballot boxes and ballot papers for the polls have arrived in Chennai and are kept in the assembly speaker P Dhanapal’s room for safe keeping, sources added.
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