"Centre Morally Bound To Compensate States For GST Shortfall": Sushil Modi

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.

Arun Jaitley held the finance ministry when the the GST was implemented in July 2017

Gold Rate Today: The closing rate of gold jewellery stood at Rs 52,874/10 grams, excluding GST, according to Mumbai-based industry body India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA).

Current Gold Price: The value of gold that you buy in the form of jewellery, coins etc. keeps changing, just like any other asset class.

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.

The collection in July declined 3.84 per cent compared to the previous month.

The delay in complying with the new rules have led to trade volumes dipping by 2-3 per cent every month since January, an industry body said

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