GST - Former Union FM and Present Gujarat FM Lambasts Centre
GUJARAT minister of state for finance Saurabh Patel said that it would be difficult for the UPA government to implement Goods and Service Tax without the support of non-Congress ruled states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh …
Some other pearls from Patel:
++ The issue has not got resolved due to the UPA government's indecisiveness and its policy of ignoring financial interests of the states.
++ Gujarat government is opposed to the GST draft as it would increase prices of many items used daily by common persons by 7% to 8% besides making service sector more expensive.
++ Centre's announcement of reducing the threshold limit for small industries from Rs 1.50-cr to Rs 10-lakh would increase the tax load on the industrial units.
++ Central government announced the GST rates without discussing with the states. Centre only kept on talking about unanimous decision but never discussed with the states. It has not even listened to the suggestions of the empowered committee's chairman Asimdas Gupta.
++ Taxation structure shaped by the central government for the GST would prove helpful only to the big industries .
Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said,
++ Several states, including those ruled by the BJP, were opposed to introduction of the GST because of their own interests and not due to any partisan issue.
++ It was unexpected and "unbecoming" of the Prime Minister to have made an "unparliamentarily" remark about the BJP stalling the tax and other economic reforms.
++ There were differences of opinion even among the BJP-ruled states on GST.
++ States like MP are opposing the GST because it has genuine concerns.
++ UP is not a BJP-ruled state..it is opposing.
++ I am firmly of the view that the government of India should introduce GST first at the central level. At the central level you have central excise and you have the service tax. Now if you first merge the two, you have your own GST.
++ You present an example to the states that this is how we do GST and then the states might follow.