Kerala Finance minister Thomas Isaac said that he is confident that the central government won’t have the capacity to show the supporting enactment of the goods and service tax (GST) in this session of Parliament.
Isaac said in a Facebook post that, “Whether the (administrative) control over those with an annual revenue of less than Rs. 1.5 crore should be given to the states, or should be handled by states and center together, is only a problem of pragmatic administration. But that has become the stumbling roadblock now.”
“States are peeved by the center which is sticking to its position. Seventy-five percent government employees are from the states. States share a good rapport with small traders (taxpayers below a threshold of Rs. 1.5 crore). The reasons (for giving administrative power to states) go on,” he added.
The center government is attempting to push the draft GST charge before the Parliament’s winter session closes on 16 December, as it tries to reveal the new indirect duty administration by the 1 April due date. He also said in addition to the mismanagement that, “It is almost sure that the GST bill will not be presented in this Parliament session.”
There are four supporting bills for GST—central GST (CGST), state GST (SGST), compensation for income loss to states and integrated GST (IGST). But the SGST charge which should be cleared by state governing bodies, the other three must be cleared by Parliament.
Isaac said that “The GST council is supposed to meet again on 11 and 12 December, which could be the final chance for the center to get the nod of the council on the draft laws before the end of the winter session. Every decision of the GST council needs to be taken with a three-fourths majority and this may not happen.”
The possibilities of these bills being tabled in the progressing session are diminished unless the administration chooses to amplify the session.
While the center government’s vote will convey a 33 percent weight, votes of all state governments set up together will have a 66 percent weight. In this matter, he lighted that, “To get a three-fourth majority, the center needs the support of at least 16 states… The central government does not have those numbers, given the political equation within the council right now.”
