Still, no hope on GST
But,
on the political score card, the GST remains as a negative mark for
Modi-government as the session concludes (Lok Sabha finished its
business on Wednesday, Rajya
Sabha is likely to follow suit today). The Modi-government has failed so
far to build a consensus on the GST law, touted as the biggest economic
reforms of the decade, leaving the biggest tax reform a pipedream for
the economy.
In
the beginning of the session, there were hopes that the Congress-party
led opposition would soften its stance on
GST Bill—something which is a
brainchild of earlier UPA-government. But, the political climate turned
when the Agusta episode dominated and put the opposition on war path.
The result was GST turning casualty yet again.
There
aren’t any unresolvable reasons that could block the GST Bill except
lack of political consensus. There are three major points of contention
between Congress and BJP on GST issue. 1) Inclusion of the GST rate
(agreed around 18 percent) in the constitution 2) Doing away with the
inter-state levy 3) Constituting an independent dispute resolution
mechanism.
Of the three, the only major point of difference is capping GST in
the Bill, but not something that has the potential to perennially block
the passage of the crucial piece of reform. For instance, a solution
such as empowering a joint committee involving the centre and state
governments (including Congress-ruled states) to set the GST rate, isn’t
difficult to agree upon. The other two demands are actually non-issues.
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