Stalemate between the Centre and States over administrative control under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime continued on Sunday on how the Centre and States will control assessees under the new tax regime.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s informal meeting with State Finance Ministers failed to arrive at a consensus on the new taxation system that will subsume an array of taxes like excise duty and service tax as well as VAT.
With the States unrelenting on their position of being given right to control all assessees with up to Rs1.5 crore annual turnover, it was decided that officials will meet again on Monday before the meeting of the all powerful GST Council on November 25.
"The meeting has remained incomplete. Discussions will continue on November 25," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the over three-hour long meeting.
The issue has remained a contentious one during the previous two GST Council meetings and any disagreement at the next meet holds potential of derailing rollout of the GST from the targeted April 1, 2017.
Jaitley had earlier this month stated that the proposed GST needs to be rolled out by September 16, 2017 before the validity of the Constitutional Amendment brought in by the Centre and ratified by States expires.
The States like West Bengal, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have insisted on exclusive control over small taxpayers, who earn less than Rs 1.5 crore in annual revenue, for both goods and services.
Uttarakhand Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh said the States demanded exclusive control for both goods and service tax assessees of Rs 1.5 crore and below.
"The Centre is agreeable on goods, but is not yielding on services. States are looking at their interest to safeguard their revenue. The Centre will have to yield to the States to get the CGST and IGST Bills passed. A middle ground on the issue has to be worked out politically," she said.