TS to insist on clause in GST Act for consumers

GST Council to meet on Feb. 28

At present, nearly 70% of goods attract average tax of about 27%. This rate will come down to less than 25% after GST comes into force. We want consumers to benefit

— A TS OFFICIAL

The TS government has been pitching for a clause in the GST Act to ensure that the benefit of lower taxes is passed on to the consumers.

The TS government wants to raise this issue at the crucial meeting of the GST Council to be held on February 18 in Udaipur.

Besides, it will ask the Centre to set up a National GST Appellate Tribunal to resolve taxrelated disputes between all stakeholders quickly.

The transition of traders from VAT to GST is going on at a brisk pace in the state.

The linking of local traders with national GST networks is expected to be completed by April to enable GST rollout from July 1, as planned by the Centre.

Senior officials of commercial taxes department have submitted a report to finance minister Etala Rajender on the issues to be taken up in the GST Council meeting on February 18.

The report noted that the benefit of taxes that may come down due to GST should be passed on to consumers and there should be a mechanism like Appellate Tribunal to examine whether input tax credits availed by any registered taxable person, or the reduction in the price on account of any reduction in the tax rate, have actually resulted in a commensurate reduction in the price of the said goods and /or services provided.

Many manufactured goods like cars, are expected to become cheaper after GST.

“All manufacturers claim input credit from government on final output. This will result in a car costing `5 lakh to become cheaper by `50,000. This benefit should be passed on to consumers. We should not allow profiteering by manufacturers on account of this,” the official said.

The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already decided on a 4-tier GST tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.