PANJIM: In a bid to sort out difficulties faced by contractors involved in government works due to the Goods and Service Tax (GST), the State government will be working out a new Goa Schedule of Rates (GSR), which is used to calculate estimates of government projects. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar held a marathon meeting with engineers and contractors working with departments of Public Works, Water Resources and others taking stock of the difficulties faced by them in preparing the works’ estimates.
Sources said that upon implementation of the GST from July 1, all the taxes – excise duty, CST, VAT – have been subsumed in a single rate, whereby the effective market rates have either decreased or increased on each of the items, used the construction. Further, the benefit of Input Tax Credit, being availed by the contractor, needs to be passed on to the government department and suitably deducted or added from the quoted rates or the rates claimed in the running account bill or final bill, and thereafter GST will have to be levied. “The final rate, after applying GST, would be less than the previous rate thus offering a benefit to the government and state exchequer,” a contractor said.
