State Cannot Reduce Tax on Fuel: Thomas Isaac

ALAPPUZHA:
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said that the State cannot reduce the tax on petroleum products.
He said that the State Government cannot think of reducing the tax. The Government already had a burden on taxes with the implementation of GST.
The Government will not be able to think of another burden with the reduction of taxes for petroleum products. The tax imposed on petrol and diesel have gone more than the actual price due to the incapability of the Union Government, the minister said.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged state governments to reduce value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by 5% to further ease retail price of the auto fuel. The Central Government cut excise duty on these by Rs two a litre.
Pradhan also said that raising excise duty on fuel during the low global oil price era also involved a responsibility to bring it down when necessary. Unlike the central government, states levy VAT as a percentage of the price, which leads to higher tax burden when prices go up.
The Central Government raised excise duty by Rs 11.77 per litre on petrol and Rs 13.47 a litre on diesel between November 2014 and January 2016 to take away gains arising from plummeting international oil rates. Oil ministry said in a statement that the decision to cut excise duty was taken in view of coming agricultural season—harvesting of Kharif crops and sowing of Rabi crops, besides consumer interest in general. “The government stands committed to take all necessary steps to protect the well being of consumers,” said the statement.