The latest round of dispute cropped up on Monday -- again, between the Centre and states.
This time, it was over compensation to the states on revenue loss due to a cut by half in the central sales tax from the present 4 per cent.
The imbroglio will serve another reason to the rollout of the GST regime, originally slated to begin from April 2010.
In any case, the introduction of the GST, envisaged to replace most of the country's present indirect taxes, from the next financial year looked set for another round of delay, as it is only from January that a parliamentary panel would start discussing with stakeholders the pertinent constitution amendment bill.
The states are angry about having not received CST compensation for 2010-11, according to Sushil Modi, chairman of the Empowered Committee of state finance ministers.
"We are sending a strong-worded letter to the finance minister (Pranab Mukherjee)," he told reporters on Monday.
"This will put a question mark on the credibility of the Centre, because this one thing the Centre committed when we are trying to create a congenial atmosphere for GST."
The CST is a tax on inter-state movement of goods. It was reduced from four per cent to three per cent from April 1, 2007, and further to two per cent over a year later.
It was to be abolished by 2010-11, before authorities ultimately decided to wind it up once the GST was rolled out.
The CST is being removed since it is considered a distortion in the way of the common Indian market.
An effort has been on to create it -- first, through state-level VAT and, now, with the proposed GST.
Since CST means revenues to state, the Centre had agreed to compensate them.
As much as Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) has been provided in the Budget 2011-12 as well for this purpose, pointed out Modi, who is Bihar deputy chief minister and finance minister, after on Monday's meeting of the empowered committee.
However, according to him, the Centre has now come out
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