‘GST Council to take up real estate’

WASHINGTON: Real estate is the sector in which maximum amount of tax evasion takes place, and there is a strong case to bring it under the ambit of the goods and services tax, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

The matter will be discussed in the next meeting of the GST Council, which will be held on November 9 in Guwahati, Jaitley said while delivering a lecture.

“The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I personally believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST,” Jaitley said. The move would benefit the consumers who will only have to pay one “final tax”, and “the final tax paid on the whole product in the GST would almost be negligible,” he said. ››HT BUSINESS BOOK II