Kerala has asked the Centre to reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates for 24 items, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac told the Assembly on Tuesday.
It is expected that this demand would be discussed at the GST Council meeting on September 9. He was replying to the discussion on the Kerala GST Bill moved by him on Tuesday. The Bill was later referred to the subject committee.
Kerala has asked for a reduction in GST rates for building materials, houseboat services, Ayurveda products, medicines, and small industries. The introduction of GST for goods that did not have an excise duty has brought in more tax burden.
However, criticism of the post-GST is often done by ignoring what the tax burden was before GST. Kerala does not approve of the GST in toto but is seeking to mitigate the impact on the people.
The House also referred to the subject committee the Motor Vehicles Taxes Amendment Bill moved by Minister Mathew T. Thomas.
Heated debate
The discussion that preceded the sending of the GST Bill to the subject committee witnessed trenchant criticism of the GST regime. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the Congress supported the GST even though it was introduced without much thinking.
P. C. George told the Assembly that even though the central committee of the CPI(M) had passed a resolution against the GST, Dr. Isaac was showing great interest than Narendra Modi in implementing the regime.
Intervening in the debate, K.M.. Mani said the State government did not try to control rising prices before the GST was implemented here. Most States passed their GST Bill in May itself. Kerala is the last State to implement GST through an ordinance, he said. It was because traders were not told how to tax goods that they had stocked prior to the implementation of the GST that led to the rise in prices, he added.