Decisions are taken with the consent of all in the GST Council,

Sitharaman strongly objected to the allegations of discrimination leveled by Tamil Nadu's ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and said that the state has received more money.

GST Council Meeting: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is facing criticism regarding GST and its implementation, claimed that efforts are on to simplify the tax structure. Finance Minister Sitharaman stressed that the decisions taken in the GST Council meeting were not unilateral but were taken with the consent of all the states. Sitharaman strongly objected to the allegations of discrimination leveled by Tamil Nadu's ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and said that the state has received more money.

Said to return 29 paise instead of 1 rupee

Sitharaman's statement came after the DMK said that Tamil Nadu had received only 29 paise back against the one rupee given by it to the Centre. Speaking to the media, Sitharaman said, "The Tamil Nadu minister is also a member of the GST Council. All decisions taken in the GST Council have been taken unanimously and no decision has been taken by ignoring disagreements."

No minister can take any decision alone

He said that no minister can take any decision alone in the meeting of GST Council, the apex body of GST. He said that they do not even have the right to increase or decrease the rate recommended by the Finance Commission. The Union Finance Minister said, 'If the states want more funds, they should present their case before the Finance Commission or should be free to approach the court. The question is whether the allocation amount was even one rupee less than the amount recommended by the Finance Commission or was there any delay in distribution?'

He said that the amount was being distributed in advance. It is wrong to say that Tamil Nadu is contributing more revenue to the Centre through GST. In response to the allegations of the Tamil Nadu government, he said, 'States get 50 percent back on the revenue given to the Centre. Apart from this, they get 41 percent from the Centre's share.'