At the 57th GST council meet held in New Delhi on October 8, Keralam had opposed the decision to scrap the arrest powers of tax officers, suggesting instead that they be retained for serious tax frauds and cases involving very high amounts.
Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who attended the 57th council meet, had argued that strong deterrence measures were required for tackling large-scale and organised tax evasion.
The council had recommended the withdrawal of arrest powers under GST by omission of Section 69 of CGST Act, 2017. Mr. Satheesan also has sought the formation of Group of Ministers (GoM) for examining issues related to Central procurements and the division of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) among the States.
Government sources said that Mr. Satheesan has also handed over a representation in this regard to Union Finance Minister Nirmal Sitharaman. Keralam has also sought the expansion of e-invoicing to more sectors so as to prevent tax evasion in e-commerce platforms and the tax leakage in the gold trade sector.
