All states support GST, barring Tamil Nadu: Jaitley

Kolkata: Virtually all states have supported the idea of GST except Tamil Nadu which has "some reservations", Finance minister Arun Jaitley said today after a meeting of Empowered Committee of state FMs on the long awaited indirect tax reform.

"Virtually all the states have supported the idea of GST today barring Tamil Nadu," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.

He said however that there was "no deadline as such" for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax which aims to subsume a string of state and central level levies.

The government had earlier targeted to roll out the nationwide single tax regime from April 1, 2016 but the Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST has been stuck in the Rajya Sabha due to opposition by the Congress party.

"Virtually all the states have supported the idea of GST today barring Tamil Nadu which has expressed some reservations. TN has offered a few a suggestions which have been noted by the committee," Jaitley told reporters on the first day of the two-day meet.

The meeting was attended by Finance Ministers of 22 states including West Bengal's Amit Mitra as well as Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, deputy CM of Delhi and senior officials of seven others.

Stating that this was a record attendance of FMs, Jaitley said that every state has given detailed views on GST.

Chairman of GSTN and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia were also present.

Jaitley said the Lok Sabha had approved the GST Bill while it was pending before the Rajya Sabha.

"The first thing which will have to be done is to pass the Constitutional amendment which has to be then ratified by the states. Then Parliament will have to pass the CGST Bill and states the SGST Bills" he said.

Interesting, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to meet in Delhi today wherein she is expected to take up with him a host of state-related issues including the Formation of Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

PTI

No surcharge, service charge on card, digital payments – PTI

New Delhi: With an aim to discourage cash transactions, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved withdrawal of surcharge, service charge and convenience fee on card and digital payments. The digital payments move aims at reducing cash transactions. The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only through a card or digital mode. "The essential features of the proposals for promotion of payments through cards and digital means include steps for withdrawal of surcharge, service charge and convenience fee on card and digital payments currently imposed by various government departments, organisations...," according to an official statement. "The promotion of payments through cards and digital means will be instrumental in reducing tax avoidance, migration of government payments and collections to cashless mode," it added. The move primarily discourages transactions in cash by providing access to financial payment services to citizens to pay through cards and digital means and shifting payment ecosystem from cash dominated to non-cash or less cash payments, the statement said. Among other measures aimed at reducing cash transactions include rationalization of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on card transactions and a differentiated MDR framework for some key segments. Other features include introduction of formula-linked acceptance infrastructure by the stakeholders of certain card products, rationalization of telecom service charges for digital financial transactions and promotion of mobile banking. Creation of necessary assurance mechanisms for quick resolution of fraudulent transactions and reviewing the payments ecosystem in the country have also been approved. Several short-term (to be implemented within one year) and medium-term measures (two years) for implementation by the government ministries, departments and organizations were approved, the statement added.

PTI