ALAPPUZHA: Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac has said the VAT imposed on petroleum products by the state government cannot be reduced. He was reacting to Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan’s call asking state governments to reduce VAT of petroleum products. Isaac said the state cannot be think about the reduction of taxes.
“The Centre reduced Rs 2 on the tax imposed on petrol and diesel and it is an eyewash,” he said. “GST has created additional burden. The reduction of taxes on petroleum products will bleed the coffer of state government. People giving taxes more than the base rate of a product is the Centre’s failure.” He said, “Earlier, the state government had reduced tax on aviation fuel after heeding the Centre’s words. It was not allotted any benefit by the Centre. So the state will not think about the reduction of VAT.”