Consensus with states on GST this year: Revenue Secretary

Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the government would be able to resolve differences with states on issues related to the Goods & Services Tax (GST) this year. "The government is serious about bringing it (GST). We are hopeful of reaching a broad consensus and convergence on GST this year," he said at a national council meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Though the government has not provided for central sales tax compensation to states in Budget 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has committed to providing the money to states later. Das said the ministry was examining suggestions on taxation of debt mutual funds. "The concerns expressed by industry and other participants are being looked into," he said. He assured industry the government's approach was to bring more transparency and greater policy stability.

The message to taxpayers was the tax department would play the role of facilitator, he said. "In the limited time we have had, we have taken three major decisions to bring down transfer pricing litigation - roll-back of advance pricing agreement provisions, multi-year data and the range concept. If a few issues are yet to be resolved, these will be specified in rules."

Das said the fiscal space available with the government was very limited, adding despite that, it had taken various measures in Budget 2014-15 to revive economic growth.

To increase the tax base, the tax department would consider various new areas, he added.

On whether the revenue targets announced in the Budget were realistic, he said the 15 per cent growth assumed in direct taxes was the same as recorded in 2013-14. On the indirect taxes front, the government was depending on a recovery in economic activity, especially in the manufacturing sector, for some buoyancy in revenue, he said, adding the cut in excise duty had already had a positive impact on the automobile sector.