VAT Samadhan scheme soon: Minister 

COIMBATORE A samadhan scheme to settle pending Value Added Tax (VAT) related issues will be implemen

A samadhan scheme to settle pending Value Added Tax (VAT) related issues will be implemented soon in the State, Minister for Finance and Human Resource Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said here on Thursday.

At a meeting organised by Confederation of Indian Industry, Coimbatore, and Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, Mr. Rajan said the scheme was already announced and was in the process. “The file came to me...it is in process,” he said.

On the need for a local Appellate Tribunal to address GST related issues, he said the State was taking measures to have a State-level tribunal.

Mr. Rajan urged the industry to continue representing GST related issues to the Commercial Tax Department, District Collector, and his office, as he was part of the GST Council.

The Minister said the reason why he was a strident critic of GST was, the notion of “One Nation One Tax” was itself kind of simplistic. For instance, he was a part of group of Ministers to recommend rates on casinos, horse racing and online gaming. Online gaming could have a national policy on taxation, regulation. But, horse racing or lottery were State-regulated subjects. “The notion that you should have a pan India tax on these kind of activities is profoundly flawed,” he said.

So, GST had some profound flaws. It was rushed to execution with relatively little thought and there were now all kinds of problems in implementation, he said. Explaining on how the GST Council worked, the Minister added that Tamil Nadu was expanding its GST work. It was setting up a committee to look at fiscal federal relations, broadly, but mostly GST. There would be a support system for the Committee. “We are going to start doing the work that the GST secretariat in Delhi otherwise ought to do.”

On the need for GST helpline in English and other regional languages, Mr. Rajan said he would take it up immediately.