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Dr Amit Mitra writes strong letter to Union Finance Minister on implementation of GST
Bengal Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra has written a strong letter to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the sufferings of small industries including handloom workers due to the hurried implementation of GST. He mentioned that in Surat alone, 90000 out of the 7 lakh handlooms had to be sold at throwaway prices, as there is little business to be done now.
The Bengal Finance Minister has pointed out that after the GST came into effect, the prices of most of commodities have risen and the public, in general, are angry. Even bigger traders are unsatisfied due to complexity in return filing under GST. As a result, the filing of returns, which was 80% in July, has dropped to 60% in August, he pointed out.
It may be mentioned that due to the high rates of taxes, business transactions are being made out of the books. That has resulted in the loss of revenue. While in the first month, the revenue earned was Rs 95 crore, it has dropped to Rs 93 crore. The biggest proof of this being that in the time of festivities during the month of September, there has been no increase in revenue. Bengal Finance Minister had time and again cautioned against the hurried implementation of GST during the meetings of the GST Council earlier this year.
The Bengal Finance Minister added that the way the regulations are being changed frequently, it has been very difficult to format the same online and things have come down to pen and paper. As a result, the system has been pushed back to the pre-VAT era, he wrote in the letter.
Dr Mitra also pointed out that post GST many household consumer items have fallen under the 28% bracket of the GST. He argued that apart from cigarettes and other tobacco items, the 28% bracket should be changed to 18., He also pointed out that the consumer items now falling under the 18% tax bracket, should be brought under the 12% bracket.
