Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is likely to meet Congress leaders on the issue of the passage of the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is likely to meet Congress leaders on the issue of the passage of the Goods and Services Tax Bill. Government managers will also reach out to regional parties, including those who have just one representative in Parliament. “As per the 14th Finance Commission, service tax is not shared with states. The earlier you pass the GST, the better it is for states so that they get a share in the service tax,” Mr Jaitley said in reply to questions on Tuesday.
Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram, however, said Mr Jaitley had “slipped” when he told Parliament that service tax revenues are not shared with the states. “FM was wrong. He slipped. All taxes, including service tax, are shared,” Mr Chidambaram said in a tweet.
The Rajya Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee has allotted five hours for a discussion on the GST Bill, but no day has yet been fixed to introduce the legislative proposal in the Upper House. With the regional parties backing the bill’s passage, the Congress appears to have softened its position to stall the introduction of the legislative proposal. The Congress has been demanding that the tax rate be capped at 18 per cent, the one per cent surcharge be done away with and a dispute resolution mechanism be set up. The government, sources, said would address the Congress’ demands in the coming days.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, an ally of the Congress in his state, strongly favoured passage of the GST Bill, saying on Tuesday that his party has been supporting it for quite a long time.
