Just ahead of the winter session of Parliament, the main opposition Congress has hardened its stand on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, saying it is opposed to the four-slab tax structure in which the top limit is 28 per cent.
While the government intends to pass two legislation pieces related to the main GST Bill, passed in the monsoon session, Congress stand will make it tough for the legislation to go through. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala has said, “We will oppose the 28 per cent GST slab. Any rate over 18 per cent will push inflation and break the back of the common man. A meeting of the Opposition parties too, apparently discussed the strategy to be adopted on Bills, such as the GST Bill.
The states and the Centre are set to hammer out the issue of jurisdiction over assessees under GST this week. The states have asked for control over 1.1 million service tax assesses while the Centre had proposed to do away states having exclusive control over all dealers up to an annual revenue threshold of Rs 1.5 crore.
Earlier, conceding to stakeholders' demands, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council arrived at a consensus of four bands of tax of between 5 per cent and 28 per cent , while agreeing to compensate states for losses on account of a shift to this new regime by way of cess. The GST will subsume excise, service tax, VAT and other local levies and will help in smooth movement of goods and services across the country.