Petrol under GST
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has once again clarified that the Central Government’s intention is to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of Goods and Service Tax (GST).
She was speaking at the 53rd GST Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday (June 22). On this occasion, he responded to the question of GST on petrol and diesel.
States have final decision: Nirmala
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the final decision on bringing petrol and diesel under GST is up to the states and all of them should come together on this. “We did not discuss this. Petrol and diesel were not discussed during the implementation of GST. Arun Jaitley used to talk about this. If the states agree, we will discuss it in the council and take a decision on the tax rate. After taking a final decision on this, we will bring it into law,” she clarified.
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He said that from the very beginning, the Center wanted to bring petrol and diesel under GST. “There is no need to make changes in the law. There is already a provision to bring these under the GST. The only decision is for the states to agree to this. Only after that we will take a decision on the rates in the GST Council,” said Nirmala once again.
There has always been a demand to bring petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST. If that happens, the burden on the people will be reduced. Even if these are brought under the maximum 28 percent tax in GST, their prices will come down a lot. But the states will lose the tax coming in the form of VAT on these. Many states do not agree to this.
The Center has also been wringing its hands on the states for the past few years. The finance minister says that this was not discussed in the latest GST Council meeting either. Still, it seems that there is no change in the Centre’s opinion on this issue.