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Informist, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024

 

--Bengal Minister: Suggested new GST GoM for Andhra getting 1% GST cess

--Andhra Pradesh Minister: Sought 1% GST cess on luxury items for Andhra

--Sitharaman: GST Council decided to form panel on cess for disasters

 

JAISALMER – The GST Council on Saturday decided to form a Group of Ministers to mull over allowing states to levy cess under goods and services tax to overcome financial distress following natural calamities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. Originally, the Council was discussing a proposal by Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav to allow the state to levy cess after it experienced severe floods in Sep-Oct. 

 

There was a consensus on forming a Group of Ministers to look into the matter as Andhra Pradesh suffered major fiscal strain from legacy issues, thereby curbing the state's strength to combat natural calamities, Keshav told reporters after the GST Council's 55th meeting here. "To give us leverage to come back to normalcy, we have suggested a 1% cess. There was a general consensus to set up a Group of Ministers," he said. 

 

At the media briefing after the GST Council's meeting, Sitharaman said "everybody agreed, even Andhra Pradesh's minister agreed that a Group of Ministers be formed and Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, volunteered (to be a part of it)."  The Group of Ministers will decide what this cess should be named, whether every disaster can be given a consideration. "So the Group of Ministers will decide on all these details and then the Council will decide," Sitharaman said.

 

In January 2019, the GST Council had allowed Kerala to levy a cess of up to 1% on intra-state supply of goods and services for a period of two years.

 

A government panel led by then minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla had cleared the proposal to allow Kerala to levy 1?ditional tax as disaster cess – Kerala Flood Cess – under the new indirect tax regime. Post severe floods in 2018, Kerala had requested the GST Council to allow the state to levy an additional cess under GST for rehabilitation work.

 

There is a provision in the GST Act that allows the Council to permit cess to cope up with natural calamities, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said.  End

 

Reported by Sagar Sen and Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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