Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition walkout over gold tax

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The opposition UDF staged a walkout in the assembly on Wednesday, alleging laxity on the part of state's GST department in collecting tax on gold, 'which has cost the state exchequer a huge GST income of Rs 2,700 crore in 2019-20'. The UDF also alleged that an 'underworld' in gold business was thriving in Kerala due to inefficiency and lethargy of the state GST officials.
"The state finance minister is making lame excuses and putting the blame on GST council instead of reforming the department under the GST regime," said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala before staging the walkout after speaker P Sreeramakrishnan denied leave for an adjournment motion on the issue.
The speaker rejected the notice for the motion issued by senior Congress leader V D Satheesan, based on the clarification given by finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, who said the matter could be discussed elaborately on March 10, when the House will discuss on demands for grants in the budget for the GST department. "The department is not remaining a mere spectator as being alleged, but is carrying out inspections in shops, and the government might take stricter measures like deploying officials at shops during business hours," he said.
Raising the issue, Satheesan pointed out that the state's tax revenue from gold market in 2017 under VAT regime was Rs 750 crore, though the VAT was 1.25% under a compounding system. "The tax on gold increased to 3% under GST and the state was to receive Rs 1,800 crore in 2018-19. But we received only Rs 200 crore," he pointed out.