GST couricil meeting: A two -day meeting of the GST Council has started from Wednesday under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and big announcements can be made on Thursday. It is believed that this meeting will be an important step towards implementing the GST reform announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
The aim of the government is to provide a big relief package to the general public, middle class, small traders and farmers before Diwali through this meeting. That is why it has been called ahead of schedule.
Possible major decisions of GST meeting
1. Two slabs instead of four slabs
Currently, four tax slabs of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% are applicable in GST. In the meeting, they are being considered to reduce only two slabs (5% and 18%).
2. Everyday things will be cheaper
Electronic items like TV, washing machine, fridge are currently in 28% GST slab. It is proposed to shift them to 18% slab, which will make these products cheap. There are plans to bring them to 5%, which are currently in 12% slabs like ghee, betel nut, water bottle, salty, medicines and medical equipment.
3. Luxury and harmful items will be expensive
However, while the common consumer will get relief on goods, tax can increase on luxury and harmful products. Premium cars and SUVs currently have 28% GST. It is proposed that they should be brought under the scope of tax of up to 40% under the new reform. If seen in this way, the government wants to give relief to the general public on the one hand, on the other hand, it will try to make revenue balance by increasing tax on luxury conference and harmful products.
On the other hand, the finance ministers of the opposition parties ruled the GST Council met each other before the meeting to be held on Wednesday and demanded compensation from the Central Government to compensate the revenue loss due to the proposed change in the GST rates. Finance ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal participated in this meeting.
In this meeting held last week, these states discussed that if the slabs of 12% and 28% are removed and two slabs of only 5% and 18% are kept by simplifying the tax structure, then the income of the state governments could have a big impact. In such a situation, necessary steps need to be taken to protect their revenue.
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