INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
GST council will hold its conference on December 31New Delhi: The GST council headed by financing minister Nirmala Sitharaman will fulfill
on December 31, a day after she meets her states equivalents for pre-budget consultations.The council is expected to go over the report of
the group of states finance ministers on rate rationalisation, which will be submitted during the conference
It is likewise likely to go over correction in task inversion in specific products, main sources said.The panel has examined items under an
inverted responsibility structure to help minimise refund payout.The fitment committee, consisting of tax officers from states and the
Centre, has made lots of sweeping recommendations to the financing ministers' panel concerning the slab and rate changes and bringing
numerous items out of the exemption list.Currently, GST is a four-tier slab structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent
Essential items are either exempted or taxed at the most affordable slab, while luxury and demerit items draw in the highest slab
On the top of the greatest slab, a cess is levied on luxury and demerit goods.There have been demands for combining the 12 and 18 per cent
slabs and likewise for securing certain items from the exempt category to stabilize the impact of slab rationalisation on revenue.West
Bengal's previous financing minister Amit Mitra has actually urged the Union finance minister to roll back a proposed hike in textile from 5
percent to 12 per cent stating this would result in closure of around one lakh textile systems and 15 lakh task losses.Telangana markets
minister K T Rama Rao has actually also advised the Centre to withdraw its proposed plan to increase GST rates.Even industry bodies have
opposed the rise in tax from 5 percent, pointing out higher compliance cost particularly for the unorganised sector and micro little and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) besides making the poor man's clothing costly.
