Rajya Sabha panel adopts report on GST; Congress files dissent

The earlier version said the compensation would be paid for “up to five years”.

The failure to incorporate a GST Dispute Settlement Authority, as provided for in the 2011 bill, is a serious lacuna that must be filled, they said.

Members have time as much as midday tomorrow to file dissent, and sources stated left events are possible to try this.

The amendment relates to Clause 19 of the bill, which will now read as: “Parliament may, by law, on recommendation of the GST council, provide for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of GST for a period of five years“.

The Left is demanding that states’ representation in the GST Council should be increased to three-fourths from the proposed two-thirds, with the rest lying with the Centre.

Senior ministers in the government are trying to convince All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders not to vote against the bill when it is taken up in Parliament.

However, officials said with Trinamul Congress supporting GST and the Congress not totally opposed to it, the bill may be passed with the latter putting up a token opposition to the measure.

“The real question is if the Rajya Sabha will function or not”. The government already has the consent of Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Bahujan Samaj Party for the GST bill.

V S Krishnan, Member-Service Tax and GST, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), will be the chief guest at an interactive session on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is being jointly organised by FICCI and the Ministry of Finance.

A Parliamentary Committee, which scrutinised the crucial GST Bill, has prepared a draft report wherein the government has agreed to provide compensation to states for any revenue loss for five years, thus giving in to one of the major demands from several opposition parties. The panel says that in Clause 18, which discusses the additional tax, the word “supply” should be explained as ‘all forms of supply made for a consideration.’ The panel, however, observed that this can have a cascading effect. For a bill to come into force and get a Presidential Assent so that it can become an Act, it has to be passed by both the Houses. The Committee is likely to give its report to Parliament next week.

“The government will do its best to stick to the April 2016 deadline”, he added, speaking on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi.