The State Government is still in dark as to what amount of tax revenue it would get after the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented in the State. “Proper assessment has not been done as to what amount of State’s revenue will be available by way of tax after the GST is implemented in the State,” Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat told the State Assembly on Monday while replying to a question put by Amar Prasad Satpathy.
Amat said the Union Minister had announced in his 2015-16 Budget speech that the proposed GST would be put into practice in from coming year. The 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill, 2014 had been passed in the Parliament on December 19 for implementation of the GST, he said. The Finance Minister further informed that as per recommendation of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, the National Institute of Pulic Finance and Policy (NIPFP) has been given the responsibility to decide on the Revenue Neutral Rate. “IF the GST tax rate is fixed as Revenue Neutral Rate, then the State would continue to get the amount of tax revenue presently it gets,” Amat said. He said there is a provision in the Constitution Amended Bill that the States would be compensated for five years if loss occurs due to introduction of the GST.
