India Inc. voices concern with government on GST provisions

New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Indian industry chambers on Friday raised concerns on the draft Goods and Services Tax (GST) law at a meeting here with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, flagging issues like dual administrative control vested and wide discretionary powers for tax authorities.

"Provisions may lead to unwarranted disputes in future so it requested to give a re-look the law before finalising," a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) representative said after the meeting.

"Non-inclusion of electricity will lead to significant economic distortion," Assocham said in a representation to the government.

The chamber also said that on products like petroleum and alcohol, the industries will operate under a hybrid tax regime and will be unable to claim GST credit due to temporary non-inclusion of these products, that could increase costs.

"Consequently, some thinking around zero rating or concessional taxation under existing law on the inputs for these industries is warranted," Assocham said.

The GST Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament earlier this month, while three states - Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand - have so far ratified the Bill.

The meeting was a part of a Finance Ministry exercise to solicit industry's views on the proposed model GST law before finalising it.