Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi-led ministerial panel on incentivising digital payments under GST will meet on May 11 to assuage concerns expressed by some states, especially West Bengal. To incentivise digital transaction, the GST Council had last week discussed giving a concession of 2 per cent in GST rate (where the tax rate is 3 per cent or more) to consumers making payment through cheque or digital mode. "While 98 per cent of the states supported the idea, West Bengal opposed to it saying the poor would suffer. The five member GoM include Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Haryana Excise & Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Jaitley, after the GST Council meet last week, had said that while most states were agreeable to the proposal of giving a concession in GST rate, some states wanted a small negative list.

Source: dna May 08, 2018 09:45 UTC