Punjab Finance Minister seeks mid-term correction in GST, demands meeting of GST Council

He pointed out that there has been no GST Council meet for the past six months while the GST Act states that such meetings should take place every quarter

Seeking mid-term correction in the GST regime, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Wednesday asked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to convene a meeting of the GST Council at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic was devastating economies.

He also pointed out that there has been no meeting of the GST Council for the past six months while the GST Act states that such meetings should take place every quarter.

Badal charged that the failure to hold any constructive consultation with states for so long in such critical times amounted to Centre usurping all the power of the states, putting the spirit of cooperative federalism—that formed the very foundation of achieving consensus on the epic reform—on the back burner.

Read: GST revenue hits all-time high of Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April

Badal said that there were some issues that require urgent discussion in the context of Covid like whether GST should be exempted on hand sanitizers, face masks, gloves, PPE kits, temperature check equipment, oximeters, ventilators and the like.

"How do we provide relief to sectors most impacted by Covid e.g. MSMEs, aviation, hotels, restaurants, entertainment, commercial reality, retail? Do we need to make an amendment in law to allow donations of goods for Covid without denying tax credits on inputs used in their manufacture or purchase? Whether an amnesty scheme is needed to condone delays in payment of taxes during Covid period?" he asked.

Badal took exception to a number of provisions enacted in recent times through the route of subordinate legislation, bypassing both the GST Council and the legislatures.

"The recent amendments in GST Rules (like restricting tax credits) have far-reaching implications and were made without an iota of discussion in the Council. The delegation of authority provided to a Committee of Officers (GST Implementation Committee) was meant for mundane matters, while the same is being misused to carry out substantive changes," he said.

Badal said oversight has been given a go-by and the harassment of tax-payers has taken an entirely new dimension, with officers resorting to threats of arrest, provisional attachment of productive assets and freezing of bank accounts without any established norms.