Highlights:
- Delhi government opposes the rushing through of important decisions in GST Council Meeting via video conferencing
- The hasty meeting was planned to facilitate the Real Estate and Lottery lobbies to avail undue benefits, says Shri Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi.
- Apart from Delhi, 10 other states demanded postponement of the meeting via Video Conferencing, considering the utmost importance of the agenda items and demanded physical meeting.
- On Tuesday, Shri Sisodia who also holds the finance portfolio had written to Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, demanding postponement of GST Council meeting scheduled on Wednesday.
By SK.Vyas
New Delhi, Feb 20, 2019: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that the GST Council meeting via video conferencing could not have decided on such critical tax decisions involving the Real Estate sector and lottery.
Sisodia said on the demand of at least 10 states finance ministers, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley agreed to take up these issues in a face-to-face meeting to be held on Sunday (24 February).
Shri Sisodia said a hurried meeting through video conferencing gave rise to a reasonable apprehension that it would have facilitated the Real Estate and Lottery lobbies to avail undue benefits.
.“The meeting via Video Conference was a forced one”, Sisodia said. He raised serious concerns on lowering the tax rate on residential housing and sought a detailed discussion by all members of the GST Council.
“It will have serious repercussions on the tax regime. Unfortunately, many BJP run state governments are also under the severe pressure from the real estate lobbies” Sisodia said.
He also cited the reservations expressed by states like Kerala and West Bengal on same lines in this regard.
On Tuesday, Sisodia who also holds the finance portfolio in Delhi wrote to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, demanding postponement of GST Council meeting through video-conference on Wednesday. In his letter to Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, Sisodia said that both the agenda items - a special scheme for real estate sector and a single rate of tax on the lottery are of crucial nature and requires detailed discussion before arriving at a considered decision on the matters.