GST: West Bengal's Amit Mitra says Bill in current form unacceptable, may attend Council meet

West Bengal on Tuesday upped it’s ante against the rollout of the goods and services tax on 1 July, saying the bill is unacceptable in the current form.

The state assembly is among those that are yet to ratify the GST bill.

“Before placing the Bill in the Assembly, we need to sort out the differences (between West Bengal and the Centre). The GST Bill in its current form is not acceptable,” state finance minister Amit Mitra he been quoted as saying in a report in the Business Standard.

He also expressed ‘serious doubt’ whether the country is ready for the introduction of the bill as small and medium enterprises are still not fully prepared for the GST, the biggest tax reform India has seen.

“Small units, medium ones and even some large corporates are not ready. We have already written several times to the Centre on the points on which we have reservations,” Mitra has been quoted as saying in a report in The Hindu BusinessLine.

The Financial Express had earlier reported that about 40 percent GST Suvidha providers (GSPs) have not tested their network yet.

“It is observed that the efforts from GSPs need to be ramped up significantly, with the date for the GST rollout nearing,” GST Network has said in a letter written to the service providers, according to the report.

Citing this, Mitra said the companies are yet unprepared for the rollout on 1 July.

Apart from this, the state is also against high tax rates on various items.

“The fight is on against taxes on books, cinema, newsprint, raw cashew, plastic and rubber footwear, sale of electricity,” he said .

The state is against the tax rate on vernacular films decided by the GST Council in the last meeting. According to him, the tax on vernacular films in West Bengal as of now is just 2 percent. This would shoot up after the GST rollout. He said he has called on finance ministers of other states to oppose the high tax rate.

Mitra, who had earlier too expressed his opposition to some of the provisions in the GST bill, is likely to attend the GST council meeting on 3 June. He has not attended the earlier two meetings, including the one in which the rate was fixed for nearly 1,211 goods and most of the services.

The Hindu report, citing sources, says that the state government is for roll out of the GST in September.