Congress today hoped to persuade government on the ring fencing of the GST to an outer limit of 18 per cent as also creating an independent mechanism for resolution of disputes.
"We hope to persuade the government in national interest and in the interest of people to agree to these two issues," party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters.
Noting that 18 per cent is "not some arbitrary figure", he contended that imposing the burden of taxation on people of this country at a very-very high limit, ultimately will dis-incentivize them from paying their taxes leading to creation of parallel black money.
"With income tax slabs already between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, is it not reasonable and proper on part of Congress to say that let us put an outer limit of 18 per cent beyond which you can't go", he asked.
On reports of government seeking a higher cap, he said "We have given certain suggestions to make GST meaningful, practical and acceptable to the people who will be finally taxed."
"GST is an instrument of growth that Congress conceived and introduced something that was blocked by Modi ji, Jaitley and Sushma ji and entire BJP for nearly 6 years," he said, taking a dig at the BJP for opposing the measure during the UPA days.
He said the entire endeavour of the Congress is to ensure that the GST as passed by Parliament is not only consensus based but reflected the will of this country and it should "meaningfully be implemented on the ground and it should incentivize conformity to payment of taxes".
Efforts to hammer out a consensus on the Goods and Services Tax bill gathered momentum yesterday for its likely tabling in the Rajya Sabha next week with the government reaching out to Opposition parties.
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Moily said the GST is supposed to be 'one nation, one tax', but this been proved to a "big myth".
"The 'one nation, one tax' concept is only a myth. There are too many rates, cesses," he said.
Moily also cited the example of countries like Canada and New Zealand which had to wind up GST bills due to inflationary pressures on the economy.
He said the Congress does not want to be a party again to delay this process and "will not commit that sort of a sin that the BJP has committed".
Asked on the amendment Congress is pushing, he said wherever the word "government" on the recommendation of the Council by notification is mentioned, it should be substituted by "government may on recommendation of the Council and as passed by Parliament" and the word "notification" be deleted.
He said the Rajya Sabha is the custodian of the interests of federal sovereignty and the body that works in the interest of the nation will be deprived the right to debate and vote in important legislation.
"There is a lack of preparedness for implementation of this Bill. It is not properly chiselled out, as it would have been by Standing Committee," he said, adding that the SBI Chairman has said there was a big technical problem with regard to implementation of this Bill.
Moily said the working groups have not been constituted for manufacturing, food processing and media entertainment.
He also pointed out that there is no clarity as to how GST will apply in the excise free zones. "There are many SEZs and backward regions. What will happen to them?" he asked.
The Congress leader said the government claims this GST has self-policing and six Scrutiny Committees and Appellate Committees, Appellate authorities have been put in place.
"That is how, this is not self-policing, this is imposition," he said, adding that the Supreme Court had stated that 50 pc of the Appellate bodies with regard to taxation matters should be from the judiciary.
"There should have been a definite clause saying that in future they will not put any cess, surcharge, additional excise rate," he said.
He said ultimately it will end up with more than seven slabs of taxes including exemption, lower rate on bullion, cess, surcharges. "This will defeat the very objective in the scheme of the GST," he said.
Moily also pointed out that the real estate sector has been excluded and that is an area where the black money is supposed to have been generated.
