Jammu and Kashmir govt to take final call on GST implementation today

Srinagar: As the July 1 rollout date of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is nearing, the Jammu and Kashmir government will take a final call on implementation of the GST on Thursday.

A meeting of the all-party consultative group is scheduled for today at 4 pm.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state which has not taken a call yet on the implementation of the new tax regime which will come into force in rest of the country from July 1.

J&K state's Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said the Mehbooba Mufti government is "genuinely interested" in building a consensus because the GST is a regime that would last for the next 30-40 years.

The all-party consultative group, headed by PDP MP and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beg, was constituted by the government after an all-party meet failed to evolve a consensus over the issue.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had on Monday written a letter to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, saying that failure of the state to implement the GST would lead to "adverse impact" of price rise and put the local industry at a disadvantage.

Drabu said the state government has reached out to the opposition parties of the state and sent them all the relevant documents.

He said a perception has been created that the GST would impact the special status and the fiscal autonomy of the state, but there is no compromise on Article 370.

Noting that the GST would have implications on consumers, traders, businesses, government, civil servants and banks, the finance minister said many amendments were implemented here but nobody knew anything.

Consumer states like J&K, north-east and Himachal Pradesh will benefit, while the producer states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will face losses, he said.

For J&K, those with a turnover of lower than Rs 20 lakh will not have to fill returns. Those with lower turnover than Rs 75 lakh, they will have to fill in one single form, "The intent is that the businesses must grow," he added.

With PTI Inputs