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The non-alcoholic beverages sector has urged the government to reduce GST on aerated drinks to 18 per cent, which will make these products more affordable, drive investments and generate 1.2 lakh jobs annually by 2030. Currently, aerated drinks attract 28 per cent GST and a sin tax of 12 per cent. The government is proposing to rejig GST to a two-slab structure-- 5 per cent and 18 per cent. In addition, there will be a special rate of 40 per cent to be levied on select few items like ultra-luxury cars and sin goods. Currently, GST is a 4-tier structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. The Indian Beverage Association (IBA) said the rationalisation of GST for the sector will make products more affordable, increase investments in the sector and also generate 1.2 lakh new jobs annually by 2030. The IBA, while appreciating the government for the next-generation GST reforms, said reclassification, GST rationalisation and placing the category in a standard GST rate will unlock the sector's t
A crucial meeting of the GoM of state finance ministers on GST rate rationalisation began on Thursday as they started deliberation on the Centre's proposal to reduce tax slabs to 5 and 18 per cent. The 6-member Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation is chaired by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. The other members are Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Rajasthan Health Minister Gajendra Singh, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal. The Centre has proposed reforms in GST by reducing the number of slabs under Goods and Services Tax (GST) to 2 (5 and 18 per cent) from 4 (5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent). "The rate rationalisation will provide greater relief to the common man, farmers, the middle class and MSMEs, while ensuring a simplified, transparent and growth-oriented tax regime," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told the Group of Minister
Central GST field officers have detected tax evasion of about Rs 7.08 lakh crore in the last five years till 2024-25 fiscal, including input tax credit (ITC) fraud of about Rs 1.79 lakh crore, Parliament was informed on Monday. In 2024-25 fiscal alone, over Rs 2.23 lakh crore of Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion were detected by CGST field officers, according to the data shared by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha. Of the 30,056 cases of GST evasion detected in FY'25, more than half or 15,283 cases pertained to ITC fraud, where the evasion was to the tune of Rs 58,772 crore. In the 2023-24 fiscal, Rs 2.30 lakh crore worth GST evasion was detected by CGST field officers, involving ITC fraud of Rs 36,374 crore. In FY'23, about Rs 1.32 lakh crore GST evasion was detected, including Rs 24,140 crore of fake ITC claims. In FY'22 and FY'21, GST evasion stood at Rs 73,238 crore and Rs 49,384 crore respectively. This included ITC fraud of Rs 28,022 crore an
The opposition Congress on Thursday called India's GST the world's worst such regime, accusing the government of being interested only in imposing new levies under the cover of rationalisation. The country has reached a point where the middle class is propping the government's tax revenue because corporates are not paying as much tax revenues due to a downturn in business, claimed party spokesperson Rangarajan Mohan Kumaramangalam here. Calling the present system tax terrorism, the Congress leader hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi will rectify the faulty GST system. We have a regime that has created one of the worst GST (Goods and Services Tax) systems in the whole world. In about 50 countries, there is a tax collection system equivalent to GST. But nobody has such complications which are put in our GST system, he said. Just last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman again tried to complicate GST even more by putting three different taxes on three different forms of popcorn,