The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took up the four Bills related to the GST, with the Opposition questioning the Government’s preparedness to implement the indirect tax regime and urging for a mechanism to insulate taxpayers from harassment by tax authorities.
Initiating a debate on the bills, Deputy leader of Congress Anand Sharma said, “It is important that as you go for implementation, both the Centre and the State Governments should create an institutional mechanism which protects or insulates the taxpayers from harassment.” He said the Government should not create multiple windows of tax harassment, search, seizure and arrests which is “already happening”.
“If it leads to that situation, then surely you will not be helping the economy and the industry nor the consumers,” the former Union Minister said while speaking on the debate on The Central GST Bill, 2017; The Integrated GST Bill, 2017; The GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017; and The Union Territory GST Bill, 2017 which were passed by the lok Sabha last week.
Sharma urged Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the GST Council to keep most of the goods, which are used by the common man, at the tax rate of five per cent. He said the Government should “resist the temptation” to bring maximum goods and services under the rate of 18 per cent, cautioning that such a move will be inflationary.
Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress said the concept of GST was introduced by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000 in the Parliament “but people (then) were more familiar with KBC (Kaun Bangega Crorepati).” He said the concept has “evolved over the last 17 years and is something we can be proud of.”
O'Brien quoted the ministers of the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, who had categorically opposed the GST earlier. Attacking the BJP, he said, “when the party gives lecture on being a responsible opposition, it is not digestible.”
Naresh Agrawal (SP) asked the Government to ensure that the decision on the states' claims or issues are not delayed in the GST Council. Supporting the GST bills, he said this tax reform should not be passed as money bill and government must give exemption to food grains under this law.
Digvijay Singh (Congress) said the Congress has always been supporting the GST Bill and it was BJP which was opposing it. He said the BJP has the habit of making U-turns. “The strongest opposition that anybody has shown to the GST was Narendra Modi ji. Till 2014, he was opposing the GST and saying that if he became the Prime Minister, he would not implement it.”