State finance ministers debate GST, urge simplicity

NEW DELHI: State finance ministers continue to wrangle over the threshold of taxation under the proposed goods and services tax (GST) regime. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who chaired Friday’s empowered committee meeting, said the states were “divided” over the threshold.

While the Centre is of the view that the threshold for levying central GST (CGST) and state GST (S-GST) be kept at an annual turnover of Rs 25 lakh, some states want it to be at Rs 10 lakh.

“Some states are adamant that it should be Rs 10 lakh. Some others said it should be increased because ‘inspector raj’ will increase if small traders come under GST... So, we thought that we should collect data from all states,” Sisodia said.

NEW CHAIRMAN

The panel will select a new chairman at its next meeting in the presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Kerala finance minister KM Mani, who headed the panel, has resigned as the state’s finance minister.

The empowered panel of state finance ministers did not discuss the GST rate but referred to a sub-committee the issue of threshold below which small businesses would be exempted from the new levy.

A constitutional amendment bill crucial to implement the GST has been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending approval of the Rajya Sabha.