Bring real estate under GST: Manish Sisodia writes to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today wrote to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, demanding that the real estate sector be brought under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

In a letter to Jaitley, Sisodia said if real estate comes under the new indirect tax regime, exorbitant hike in land prices could be checked and the flow of black money curbed.

Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said he had no hesitation in stating that "extraordinary political willpower will be required for taking this step".

The minister has demanded that the matter of bringing the real estate sector under the GST regime be included in the agenda for the next GST Council meeting to be held at Guwahati on November 9.

"My view is that if GST is implemented in all steps involved in development of real estate, then every recorded transaction will lead to tax input credit and exorbitant hike in land prices will be checked, entire chain will remain intact and flow of black money in real estate could be curbed," Sisodia said in the letter.

He hoped that the GST Council was in a position to take a call on the real estate sector in its next meeting.

Since the implementation of GST in July, the Delhi deputy chief minister has been demanding that real estate be brought under it.