Dy CM writes to Jaitley, demands real estate to be brought under GST

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday demanded real estate be brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying that the move will help in curbing black money. In a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Sisodia requested to bring real estate under GST and said: "The change will bring transparency and control hoarding of land and property. People will get property in less price."

"I believe that by keeping real estate out of GST, we have kept a big space open for flourishing black money. I raised the issue in the last council meeting and apprised that the decision to keep real estate out of GST is not right," Sisodia said. However, he praised Jaitley for piloting the GST negotiations successfully and leading the country to the biggest tax reform in recent years.

Referring to an article by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, where he deals with some misconceptions about the tax reform, Sisodia said that all these misconceptions are unfounded. As Subramanian has given details of possible losses by keeping Real Estate out of GST ambit. Supporting points raised by Subramanian, the Deputy Chief Minister has stated that land and property transactions can be made more transparent by including Real Estate in GST.