Rajasthan Assembly passes GST Amendment Bill

Rajasthan Assembly on Wednesday passed the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2020 by voice vote.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal introduced the Bill in the House.

During a discussion on the Bill, he said only the amendments made in GST by Parliament have been done through this Bill.

An ordinance was brought in this regard on December 28 last year in view of the special circumstances and urgent needs.

He said the Centre had implemented GST in hurry and the mistakes are needed to be fixed repeatedly.

He informed that the tax collection of the central government will be Rs 2.5 lakh crore less than the target in the current fiscal year.

Dhariwal informed the House that the state government's share of GST compensation of Rs 2,600 crore and CST (central sales tax) of Rs 4,100 crore is pending with the Centre.

In the 37th meeting of the GST Council, only one month's compensation was given. He said that the state government will be able to do more welfare works in interest of the public if the share is released by the Centre.

Referring to anti-evasion actions, Dhariwal said that during the last five years of the previous government, Rs 25 crore was recovered by checking 900 vehicles in the state, whereas the present government took effective action in only one year.

The government recovered Rs 75 crore during checking of 2,700 vehicles, he said.

He said the Congress government in the state took strong action against GST fraudsters in Bhiwadi, Jodhpur and Kota, whereas the previous government failed to take any action.

Earlier, the House rejected the amendment resolution to circulate the Bill for seeking public opinion.