State FMs agree in principle to negative list

The Empowered Committee of State's Finance Ministers on Goods and Service Tax (GST) today agreed in principle to the concept of services tax based on the 'negative list' and suggested that the Centre could prepare such a list which would help widen the tax base. The committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushi Kumar Modi met here today to deliberate on the concept paper of taxation of services based on the negative list. "The panel has agreed in principle to the concept of negative list and the Union Government should prepare it and can also implement it from April 1, 2012 after resolving the state's concerns in this regard," Modi told reporters on the first day of the two-day long meeting. The committee suggested that all those items mentioned in the Constitution's schedule II should be included in the negative list so that Centre cannot impose tax on them.

Source: Business Standard