Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed additional cess on select commodities under GST to raise funds to help Kerala tide over the damages caused due to floods, a state minister said on Friday.
The proposal of levy of cess is expected to come up for discussion at the GST Council meeting on September 28.
“Kerala welcomes the suggestion of hon’ble FM for a national level cess on selected commodities for a specified period to help such states. GST Council to discuss,” Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said in a tweet.
Isaac was of the view that GST should be made flexible to take care of “unforeseen urgent demand for resources as in the case natural calamities”.
The issue regarding additional cess for funding rehabilitation activities in flood-hit Kerala was discussed on Thursday during a meeting of Isaac with Jaitley.
Isaac has also pressed for additional funds from the Centre to rebuild the state, which is estimated to have suffered a loss of Rs 20,000 crore (as per a preliminary estimate) due to the floods.
The Government may have to amend the GST law to permit imposition of a new cess in the new indirect tax regime.
