Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is heading the Group of Ministers on GST, on Tuesday attended<SU>a 47th Goods and Service Tax (GST) council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Chandigarh.
Representatives of States and UTs attended the meeting on Tuesday.
The GoM on rate rationalisation submitted its interim report at the GST council meeting. The interim report is on two mandates of correcting inversion and pruning exemption list and was presented before GST council by Mr. Bommai. The members of council expressed their appreciation for the detailed analysis done by GoM in the report.
Delhi government Minister Manish Sisodia said that council should adopt the entire interim report as it is without any discussion. Members of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh governments informed that a balanced view has been taken by the GoM under leadership of Mr. Bommai in bringing out a report with due sensitivity to consumers.
The entire GoM report was accepted unanimously by the council without discussion on individual points.
The council may also defer rate restructuring, including changes in the current GST slabs, for three months as requested by the GoM due to inflation concerns.
Issues that came up for discussion included compensation to States and measures to prevent tax evasion as Union and State governments remain under pressure to mobilise revenue to manage increasing expenditure. A few States made their presentations on issues concerned to them on the first day of the meeting.
The Opposition-ruled States and the Congress have been seeking continuation of compensation to States for revenue loss beyond the five-year period, which ends in June 2022.
The Chief Minister would return to Bengaluru on Wednesday evening, according to the programme schedule of Mr. Bommai.
