EW DELHI: The new GST or Goods and Services Tax will range from 5 to 28 per cent in a four-bracket structure, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
- The rate and scope of the long-delayed tax has been agreed upon today by the powerful GST Council, which consists of Mr Jaitley and his counterparts from different states.
- The four GST slabs have been set at 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% for different items or services.
- The brackets are steeper than the rates of 6, 12, 18 and 26% earlier proposed by the government.
- The peak rate of 28% will apply to luxury goods. GST for tobacco products will be fixed at the level of cess that these products attract now.
- The Finance Minister pointed out that the average is lower than the 18% demanded by the opposition, in particular by the Congress.
- Service Tax will go up from 15% to 18 %, said Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
- The tax rate agreed upon today must be now be approved by parliament, which meets from November 19 for the winter session.
- Parliament has to pass two bills related to GST in the winter session to be on track to roll out of the new indirect tax regime from April 1 next year.
- Fitment or categorization of items for each slab will be done by officials and will then be approved by the GST council, Mr Jaitley said.
- GST does away with indirect levies charged when goods cross state lines and unifies India into a single market.
GST Rates Decided, 4 Slabs Ranging From 5 To 28%: 10 Developments
