Odisha supports GST, claims Rs.2755 cr for CST loss

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Offering its support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation, Odisha government on Tuesday claimed Rs.2,755.36 crore from the Centre as compensation for loss due to reduction in Central Sales Tax (CST). 

The claim was made by the state government at a meeting of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST, held in Kolkata. With the implementation of GST, several central and state level taxes will be subsumed by a single nationwide tax. 

The Odisha government has demanded Rs.2,755.36 crore as compensation towards the loss due to reduction in CST from 2007-08 to 2011-12, but got Rs 2,201.40 crore for the given period, an official release said. In addition, the state has claimed compensation of Rs.2908.82 crore on account of CST for the period 2012-13 to 2014-15.

The state also suggested the empowered committee to review postponing the return provision of GST during the initial phases. 

"GST return form seems to be complex for a common trader as he has to fill in the details commodity-wise and HSN (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) code-wise. Therefore, filling up details based on HSN code of commodities in the form should be postponed in the initial stages," the state government said.  

The state government further proposed that suitable provisions should be made in the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act, giving authority to the states to assess, audit and recover taxes on inter-state transactions of goods and services, as the state also has a share in IGST transaction.

In order to avoid dual control, Odisha government said that steps should be taken to avoid harassment  and litigation towards tax payers, and to avoid dual control of Central and State governments with regard to assessment and audit of a particular trader for the same assessment period.