Ahead of the GST Council meeting, Congress-led Punjab called for a reduction in tax on life-saving items for COVID-19 treatment and the implementation of pending reforms, including tax review and exemptions, body dispute resolution and measures to address provincial shortcomings.
In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, head of the GST Council comprising representatives of all regions and union areas, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreeet Singh Badal demanded lower dialogue and tax rates where provinces could be allowed to adjust their territories State-GST standards as they continue to address shortages. -20 money guaranteed.
In a six-page letter dated May 24, he also raised the issue that executives were allowed to change GST rules in the name of coercion without political consideration of the GST Council, setting a “dangerous” example. The GST Council will meet for the first time in about eight months on Friday (May 28).
Badal said many goods, including protective clothing, digital thermometer, laboratory sanitisers / disinfectants and sheets of paper, which are needed to combat the epidemic, deducted a 20 percent basic tax and GDP) up to 20 percent. 18. In addition, a 10 percent higher social security tax is levied on such matters.
“Since IGST is taxable, that includes import duties, the active burden exceeds another 2-3 percent,” Badal said. It’s confusing that even though there is a problem our country finds itself taxed … with the essentials needed to overcome this life-threatening disease…, “Badal wrote.
He also proposed a review and adjustment of tax rates and exemptions to eliminate overhaul and simplify the tax debt chain. It also makes GST responsible for strengthening the Advance Ruling Authority and also issues a note on the principle of uniformity across the country.
To strengthen the formation of the state and effective international dialogue, Badal also reminded the Minister of Finance of the Unions of the long-standing international demands for the appointment of a Deputy Chairperson to the GST Council and to facilitate the dispute resolution process. He said negotiations should also start with prices where provinces could be allowed to adjust their SGST prices after June 2022.
“Almost every province continues to face shortages of about 20 percent of guaranteed funding. In the event of Punjab, it exceeds 50 percent,” he said, adding that GST failed to secure guaranteed funding, threatening international financial governance. “We need to start discussions on how this gap can be closed in line with SGST’s diversified price opportunities in the provinces that continue to have the biggest shortages,” Badal said.
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Badal also drew Sitharaman’s attention to the decisions taken by the GST Implementation Committee, the police team responsible for general affairs and procedures. These include the cancellation and suspension of GST registrations, bans on e-way payments, low tax payments even if tax liability is available and the imposition of a fine.
He said most of these decisions would require amendments to laws that would require them to be tabled in state legislatures. “We are setting a dangerous example for the police to break the law-making process, apparently a case of overdose and risking the judiciary being beaten,” Badal wrote.
These decisions should be postponed or tabled in Council as a separate agenda for official authorization to go backwards, he said. “… The GST is increasingly seen as a source of aggression and selfishness (eg suspension of productive business assets, suspension of registration and rejection of relevant tax credits) and transition from a fair and non-discriminatory tax system that forms the basis for continued taxation,” Badal said.
Council must define and inform the powers of the GST Implementation Committee, in addition.
