Oppn cites proposed Skill India cess to press for GST

The Congress on Friday cited reports of a government proposal to levy a Skill India cess to buttress its claims for imposing a 18 per cent cap on the Goods and Services Tax.

“Our fears on the GST Bill are accurate. There has to be a cap of 18 per cent, otherwise it will be difficult for our people to cope with it,” AICC spokesperson Sushmita Dev told reporters here.

She pointed out that the government after the imposition Skill India cess, the new cess introduced by the Modi government, would touch nearly five per cent.

The Modi government had increased the Service Tax from 12 per cent to 14 per cent in the Union Budget, announced a 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat Cess. It has also converted the Rs 4 per litre excise duty on petrol and diesel as road cess.

Dev said Congress leaders were discussing among themselves the government explanation on the concerns over GST articulated by party chief Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.

“A brainstorming exercise is underway in the Congress on the GST issue,” she said.
Dev hoped that the government would roll back the additional one per cent cess it plans to impose over an above the GST to compensate losses incurred by manufacturing states.

Last Friday, Modi had reached out to the Congress keeping hopes alive for the enactment of the Goods and Services Tax Bill before the beginning of the next financial year.