CM to meet Jaitley today to pursue GST waiver on langar, prasad
Thursday, 20/07/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=178655&boxid=59226&uid=&dat=2017-07-20
Chandigarh: Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will meet Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday to pursue the issue of GST waiver on langar and prasad, as well as settlement of Rs 31,000 crore CCL-related debt to ease the cash-crunched state’s financial burden.
The Chief Minister has already taken up both these issues with the central government but will personally discuss the same with the finance minister, according to an official spokesperson. Captain Amarinder had decided to personally follow up on both these issues in view of their sensitivity and criticality to the state, said the spokesperson, adding that other issues of state interest could also be discussed at the meeting.
The Chief Minister had earlier written to the finance minister seeking GST exemption on Langar (community kitchen) and Prasad distributed at various religious institutions.
Captain Amarinder had, in his letter, reminded the Union Finance Minister that Gurdwaras were exempted from the payment of VAT on goods brought by them for serving food in free kitchens (Langar). However, under the new GST regime, tax is payable on the purchase of these goods. The Chief Minister said that GST is also payable on sale of Prasad, thus impacting all religious institutions including temples, gurdwaras, mosques and churches.
Captain Amarinder had written that the levy of GST on goods purchased by religious institutions was not fair as these institutions did not have any source of income and were run and managed with finances raised through donations.
