Commenting upon the statement of S. Manpreet Singh Badal, Finance Minister Punjab that the Punjab Government is thinking of levying professional tax, entertainment tax etc. to garner additional revenue, I said through Press Note to him that except petrol and liquor, everything whether levied and exempted comes within the purview of Goods and Service Tax (GST). The state Governments have the exclusive domain to levy tax upon petrol and liquor, apart from the states' shares from GST. Any attempt by the state Govt. to levy tax upon the items other than liquor and petrol amounts to the violation of Goods and Service Tax act in letter and spirit and is violative of the principle of One Nation One Tax and One Market . Thus the Punjab Government cannot levy professional tax , entertainment tax etc. I said that the Finance Minister not to tinker with the spirit of GST by levying professional Tax, Entertainment Tax etc.

Manoranjan Kalia 
Date 16 th July 2017