A delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Friday appealed the government to provide clarity and consider invoice value.

The representatives of CII apprised the minister about various issues faced by the industries in the state and sought the intervention of the minister in resolving their issues.

The delegation urged the government to reduce the GST rate on Almond kernels from 12 percent to 5 percent.

They said after the implementation of GST, all other similar nuts category and dried fruits like raisins, cashew Kernels and walnuts were initially taxed at 12 percent but later on taxed at 5 percent except almond kernels.

The delegation of CII further appealed the minister to consider the invoice value for calculating the GST rate in hotels and also requested that the GST be taxed at not more than 12 percent stating that the current rate is 28 percent.

They said the lack of clarity around a key term for calculating the GST rates for hotels, is spelling trouble for consumers.

While stating that the government has said that hotels with ‘declared tariffs’ of Rs 7500 and above will charge 28 % GST, CII representatives said that the term ‘declared tariff’ is unclear as hotels could declare new seasonal tariffs several times a year and rates may vary with each season.

The delegation also appealed the government to refund the fiscal incentives under GST on monthly basis instead of quarterly basis to provide relief to the industrial sector of the state.

The meeting discussed threadbare the issues raised by the representatives of CII. Minister said the government is committed to take every positive step to help the industry sector to grow in the state.

He said the government has already directed to refund the GST of three quarters at earliest. He said the refund will be made on monthly basis soon after the system is put in place.