Uttarakhand Government to draft own GST Act
GST to be implemented in Uttarakhand from July 1 2017
Before implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Uttarakhand government will introduce some new taxes in the state and undertake revision of the existing tax rates.
The entire exercise is aimed at increasing the revenue for the state which is facing a huge financial crunch. “We will be looking at areas where no taxes were levied and work out a way for introduction of new taxes in areas such as entertainment and service sector,” said Prakash Pant, Uttarakhand Minister for Department of Finance.
In order to achieve this goal, the BJP government is planning to bring its own State Goods and Service Tax, which will give it powers to raise tax slabs and introduce new taxes which are outside the purview of GST.
“Either through a Cabinet notification or through a legislation, we will soon bring a state GST Act. It will empower us to reduce or increase tax slabs and introduce some new ones, at our own will. These will be outside the purview of the GST,” added Pant.
Significantly, efforts to increase the income avenues in the state by successive governments in the state have been few and far between.
The previous Congress government’s efforts were mired in controversy and backfired, when it tinkered with the liquor policy and mining policies, in the name of generating more income.
However, the new BJP government is carefully examining the existing taxes being levied in various sectors such as mining, tourism and industries etc.
“We will be introducing new taxes on water rafting, paragliding and on the petroleum products. There are several areas that remained untapped,” said Pant.
