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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 20
The 33rd meeting of the GST Council was adjourned to February 24 (Sunday) after Finance Ministers of opposition-ruled states, including Punjab, Delhi and Kerala, opposed video-conferencing and sought a physical interaction instead.
“More members wanted the meeting via video-conferencing to take place today but some members wanted a physical meeting to be held. A few expressed their opinions (through video-conferencing) and the discussions were incomplete. We will try and take the issue forward on Sunday,” said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
It was crucial to hold the meeting also because today was the last date for filing GSTR 3B returns and it was important to extend the date by two days (till February 22) all over India because the government servers had been experiencing heavy traffic. In view of disturbances in Jammu & Kashmir, the last date for filing returns for J&K has been extended to February 28.
Finance Ministers from six states had requested Jaitley, who is also the head of the GST Council, to postpone the 33rd meeting because they opposed discussions on crucial issues such as a special scheme for the real estate sector and a single rate of tax on lottery at a physical meeting where each and every member of the Council is present.
The Council will consider two reports on the issue. One by Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel and another by Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.