Chandigarh, June 1 (KNN) Giving 101 suggestions on GST simplification, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Amarinder Singh while quoting the high expectations of the people in Punjab said he looks forward to working with the Prime Minister to bring prosperity to the people of India as well as the state.

He suggested that SGST rate should be higher than CGST so that all states do not suffer such huge deficits. An amnesty scheme to overcome the various aberrations that led to serious confusion in the business circles in the initial phase of GST, saying there was no need to continue with VAT legacy issues, which should find a sunset clause.

He pointed out that MSMEs are facing the pinch after GST. Exclusion of products like crude and natural gas from GST results in a situation where it is beneficial to export them and re-import rather than supply them directly within India. Many States like Punjab lose a big chunk of revenue as the embedded taxes on these products are retained at source rather than at the place of consumption.

Listing GST as a key challenge that should remain high on the new government's agenda, the chief minister said in its current form, the GST regime was choking the true potential of MSMEs by unnecessary restrictions on inter-state movement of goods, which he said should be liberated.

He said that India has the dubious distinction of being amongst five countries in the world that have four or more non-zero GST rates, the chief minister called, ideally, for a single GST rate, but said it should include not more than two rates for any chapter and not more than one rate at four-digit level of any chapter sub-heading.

He also suggested widening the GST net to include electricity, real estate and petroleum to make it a win-win situation for states as well as businesses.

He has made many suggestions to remove embedded taxes in order to make Indian businesses competitive rather than benefitting imports over domestic production.

Besides addressing structural issues, penal matters, revenue enhancement as well as tax rates and exports and imports, the proposals include initiatives for simplification of the tax regime, issues relating to supply, input tax credits and valuation.

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