CHANDIGARH: Terming the proposal to hike Goods and Sales Tax (GST) on goods related to education a step against the interests of the students, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday opposed the move to revise GST on pencil sharpeners to 18 percent from the existing slab of 12 percent.
Cheema was participating in the 48th meeting of the GST Council chaired by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman through video conferencing on Saturday. He added that his view was endorsed by the representatives of other states, following which a decision in this regard was deferred.
Meanwhile, he agreed with most recommendations made by the Fitment Committee and said that these met the interests of both state and nation and gave his inputs.
Opposing another recommendation regarding the change in GST rates for Ethyl alcohol supplied to refineries for blending with petrol, Cheema said that it would create difficulties in checking the diversion of ENA to refineries and evasion of tax on the same. Referring to the recent observation by the apex court , he said that the Punjab government has already waged a war against the illegal trade of ENA. He said that it would be a challenge to monitor the tax on ethyl alcohol blended with motor spirit for refineries and curbing the misuse of ENA.
Disagreeing on another agenda regarding the deletion of clause (d) of sub-rule (14) of Rule 138 regarding e-way bills, Cheema said that this step would take away the power of the state to determine the minimum threshold for inter-state generation of e-way bills. “As a corollary, the state has already moved an agenda for empowering the states to prescribe e-way bills for certain goods irrespective of the threshold”, he said, adding that it would be important from the perspective of revenue of the state. The GST Council agreed to keep the status quo in this regard, he said.
