GST rates distortionary, procedures complicated: Bengal FM Amit Mitra

Mitra said the peak rate of 28% should be completely abolished

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra came down heavily on the current as well as proposed mechanism of filing goods and services tax (GST) returns as well as "distortion" in the rate structure on Monday, when the Union government celebrated two years of the roll-out of the indirect tax regime.  

In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitha­raman, Mitra attributed sluggish GST collections to distortions in the GST rate structure and complexities in procedures. "Unless we are able to address these issues along with putting in place corrective steps to check tax evasion, we are still far from reaping the benefit of revenue buoyancy, which was expected after introduction of GST. This is a great cause of concern," Mitra said.  

He urged Sitharman to get a comprehensive paper prepared on the concerns and place it before the GST Council so that a collective decision can be taken on future course of action. He said the peak rate of 28 per cent should be completely abolished for items other than sin goods and services.