Bengal is not ready to accept and roll out GST in its current form, Finance Minister Amit Mitra has said.
The country’s single largest indirect tax reform, GST, is scheduled for July 1 rollout.
“The fight is still on (over tax rates). We had earlier made some progress in changing the tax rates for some items,” Mitra told reporters at the State Secretariat.
Mitra is likely to attend the June 3 GST Council meeting. He stressed that the Bengal government is not opposed to GST, but the current tax rates are likely to make compliance difficult for small and medium enterprises.
Bengal, incidentally, has a large number of such small and medium enterprises and their lobbies have been seeking Mitra’s help.
Call for postponement “Most states are still not ready for GST, so its rollout should be postponed,” the Finance Minister, said quoting recent reports that several GST Suvidha poviders – those who will help implement the taxation – have not tested their network. Nor have ‘beta testing’ results been satisfactory.
“Small units, medium ones and even some large corporates are not ready. We have already written several times to the Centre on the points on which we have reservations,” Mitra reiterated.
Asked if Bengal was looking at a specific delayed date, he said: “That has to be decided.”
Sources say the Bengal government prefers GST to be rolled out in September.
GST Bill Meanwhile, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee pointed out that the state government would not place the GST Bill for discussion in the assembly until the Centre acceded to its demands.
“We have raised certain issues on the tax rates and how it will affect business in Bengal. Our voice has to be heard first,” he said.
Bengal is amongst the few states that have not passed the Bill.