Left Targets Centre Over ''Act of God'' Remark On GST Revenue Shortfall

The CPI(M) on Friday hit out at the government over the shortfall in GST revenues and claimed it was "blaming the heavens" after its "cronyism, incompetence and callousness" destroyed the economy.

The Kerala government on Thursday termed as "unacceptable" the two options placed before the GST Council by the Centre for borrowing by states to meet the shortfall in tax revenues.

The Congress Thursday said it was "dissatisfied" with the outcome of the GST Council meeting and accused the Centre of adopting a majoritarian approach and thrusting "solutions" on states.

The coronavirus pandemic has hurt goods and services (GST) collection and the shortfall is Rs 2.35 lakh crore for fiscal 2021, the government said on Thursday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, after a meeting of the decision-making body for fixing GST policies, said the coronavirus pandemic was "an act of God" and an unforeseen factor that affected GST collections...

The 41st GST or Goods and Services Tax Council meeting was held today, chaired by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. There was no discussion on revising GST rates for two-wheelers and therefore, the current rate of 28 per cent is still applicable.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday said the central government is "morally bound" to compensate states for the revenue shortfall on account of low GST collections in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to a question during a CII virtual forum, the Finance Minister said that two-wheelers are "neither a luxury nor a sin good," and would merit a rate revision.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has criticised the centre over not clearing goods and services tax that it owes to state governments, putting them in severe financial strain amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has to compensate states fully for the loss of revenue in Goods and Services Tax (GST) during the coronavirus crisis, its top lawyer has advised ahead of a big meet of the GST council to be attended by state Finance Ministers and Chief Ministers.

The Congress on Tuesday accused the Centre of committing a "sovereign default" by not paying GST compensation to states as mandated under the law and demanded that they be compensated soon.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday reached out to the chief ministers of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Jharkhand on the issue of compensation to states and will hold a meeting with them to evolve a collective stand at the August 27 GST Council meeting, sources said.

Week-long searches by the central GST intelligence team or DGGI on the premises of a top cement manufacturer and related dealers in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have led to detection of Rs 17.2 crore of goods and services tax (GST) evasion. While one of the directors of the cement major has been arrested, another director is on the run.

The GST intelligence officials have detected over Rs 17 crore tax evasion by a major cement manufacturer in Satna and arrested one of its directors, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.

GST rates can be reduced further once the tax base increases and everyone pays taxes properly, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on Thursday.