Two-day GST Council meet begins today

The GST Council will be meeting today to sort out the contentious issue of dual control between the central and state government. The Council will be meeting for the eighth time since it was formed.

Earlier, the GST Council met in the last week of December 2016 and cleared the draft law pertaining to the GST. However, the council did not discuss the contentious issue of dual control between the Central and state government which has been on the back burner since quite long. The finalisation of dual control holds great importance in the implementation of the GST regime.

The sticking point of the debate has been the issue of right to control all assessees with up to Rs 1.5 crore annual turnover. The states have refused to give in to Centre's demand.

This meeting is likely to focus on the dual control and thrash out a consensus between the members. The opposition parties have been in contact with each other before the two-day meet in order to present a united front on important issues.

The GST Council headed by Finance Minister is also likely to meet representatives of the six key sectors to assess the implementation hurdles under the new GST regime.

The markets are likely to keep an eye over the next few days on the GST Council meet which is an important reform measure by the government.