Following the GST Council meeting on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia argued that the tax has to be made “accountable for time-bound delivery”. He also reiterated the Delhi government’s stand that IGST needs to be scrapped completely. After the meeting, Sisodia took to Twitter and said, “GSTN to be made accountable for time-bound delivery if we want GST to succeed. It’s far behind schedule.” He added that with “Rs 70,000 crore. stuck in GST. We need to scrap IGST. It’s not needed at all.” IGST or Integrated Goods and Service Tax is levied on movement of goods from one state to another. For a state like Delhi, which relies heavily on imports of essentials, the IGST has been a constant problem, a finance ministry official claimed. The official added, “If goods are moved from Haryana to Delhi, then IGST is levied on such goods. The revenue is then shared by the state government and the Centre as per rates fixed by authorities. But the Delhi government is of the view that this should be completely removed. It serves no purpose.”
