Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said there was no proposal to bring crude oil, aviation turbine fuel, petrol, diesel and natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax regime.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the law prescribes the GST Council to recommend the date on which the goods and services tax be levied on these items. “So far, the GST Council, in which the states are also represented, has not made any recommendation for inclusion of these goods under GST,” she said. “The council may consider the issue of inclusion of these five petroleum products at a time it considers appropriate keeping in view all the relevant factors including revenue implication.”
When the GST was brought in 2017, these five items were kept out of its purview in view of the revenue dependence of the central and state governments on the petroleum sector, according to PTI. This meant that the government could levy taxes on these items and…