GST may have single standard rate between 12-18%: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday hinted that the country may eventually have a single standard rate of GST adding that the 28 per cent slab will soon be phased out, except on luxury and "sin goods".

He noted that the standard rate could be between the 12 and 18 per cent.

"A future roadmap could well be to work towards a single standard rate instead of two standard rates of 12 per cent and 18 per cent.

"It could be a rate at some mid-point between the two. Obviously, this will take some reasonable time when the tax will rise significantly," Jaitley said on a Facebook post.

The country should eventually have a GST which would have only slabs of zero, five per cent and standard rate with luxury and sin goods as an exception, he added.

Regarding the highest tax slab of 28 per cent, the Minister said: "With the GST transformation completed, we are close to completing the first set of rate of rationalisation i.e. phasing out the 28 per cent slab except in luxury and sin goods."

--IANS

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