Opposition parties have been in contact with each other over several outstanding issues regarding the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, ahead of a two-day meeting of the GST Council, which begins on Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported on Monday. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party was constantly communicating with West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who is the chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers.

Several states have demanded full control over subjects such as the interstate movement of goods and services as well as businesses with an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore and less. “Unless the issues are resolved, the GST cannot be allowed,” Ramesh said.

Advertisement

Previous meetings of the council have failed to resolve subjects related to the new tax regime, such as the dual control of taxable entities and cross-empowerment, even as the Centre and states have agreed on 100% compensation for loss of revenue. On December 23, Mitra had said that states could suffer significant revenue losses in the third and fourth quarters of the current financial year unless compensatory formulas were reworked.

Moreover, the roll-out of the new tax regime is likely to be delayed by two to three months, Mint reported. The Centre is seeking to introduce a relevant legislation in Parliament in the first half of the Budget Session and have it passed in the second half, according to the report. This would mean that the tax will be rolled out by June or July.

Discussions at the GST Council meeting include deliberations over the clauses of the three draft laws that deal with the tax – the central GST, the integrated GST and the compensation for states. The primary draft law of the CGST and SGST were approved by the council.

The GST Bill got President Pranab Mukherjee’s approval on September 8, after being ratified by 16 states. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3. It seeks to replace India’s complicated tax regime comprising 17 different charges with a single levy.