Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 12: Asking the Centre to win confidence of the states before implementation of the GST, Orissa government Friday said it need to be paid compensation of Rs 3,417.13crore towards reduction of the rate of CST from four per cent to two per cent.
‘‘The state has claimed Rs 4720.21 crore as compensation towards CST reduction from 2007-08 to 2013-2014, but it has received only Rs 1,303.08 crore till now,’’ Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat told reporters after attending the meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers in New Delhi.
Stating that non-release of compensation on account of loss towards CST reduction has caused ‘trust’ deficit between the Centre and the states, Amat said.
Demanding inclusion of tobacco and tobacco products in entry list of states, Amat said, “Tobacco and tobacco products besides being sources of revenue for the states are ‘sin goods’ and its consumption is discouraged. We urge that tobacco and tobacco products should be included in Entry 54 of the state list so as to enable the states to levy tax on it in addition to GST.”
Stating that state has collected Rs 1,618 crore from entry tax in 2013-14, with the inclusion of entry tax in GST, the revenue neutral rate (RNR) of the state will be higher, Amat urged that while calculating the compensation for the state, the revenue loss on account of subsumation of entry tax may be taken into account.On green tax, the finance minister said taking into account the adverse environmental impact, the mineral producing states may be empowered to levy an additional non-rebatable cess subject to suitable framing of guidelines in consultation with the proposed GST council, he said.
As a majority of dealers have transactions in integrated GST, the state GST and Central GST, tax administration will require powers for audit, assessment and appropriate legal action against the discrepant dealer, he further said.“Unless the states are authorised to administer IGST, the states shall be debarred from taking action against a dealer if discrepancy is noticed in IGST transactions. We reiterated our view that by law the states should be authorised to administer IGST along with the Centre,” the minister urged.
