Page 171 - Gst

Govt warns of anti-profiteering action after GST

Srinagar, 19 MayCompanies face the risk of government action if they raise prices in anticipation of the change in rates under the goods and services tax (GST) regime to be implemented from July 1, says Union revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia.Any benefit of lower rates from GST, on account of input tax refunds, must be passed on, he underlined.For instance, he said, "all telecom companies should do their own calculation now and adjust tariffs (rates). The tax incidence on them will come down on account of the input tax credit for the servers they use for operations and other hardware and software. Currently, they do not get input tax credit for those".He was speaking at an interaction with journalists after the GST Council meeting here.Telecom services will be taxed at 18 per cent under GST, up from 15 per cent now; however, higher refunds are likely to take the actual incidence lower than the current rate.Adding that if they were getting the benefit of lower cost, they'd have to pass .

E-commerce players loses GST rate battle after levy of 1% TCS on sellers

Even after months of discussions with the government, putting forward representation via industry bodies such CII, ecommerce players lost the GST battle. The government today said that one percent tax collected at source (TCS) would be charged by ecommerce companies much to their chagrin.In the absence of any straightforward classification, e-commerce companies find it hard to convince the government to treat them not as a 'shop' but as a 'platform', which vendors use to sell products. Under the new goods and services tax (GST) regime this will imply that e-commerce firms will have to deduct one percent tax collected at source while making payments to their suppliers. This, e-commerce stalwarts such as Amazon, Flipkart, Shopclues, and Snapdeal have argued, will lock Rs 400 crore of capital belonging to their sellers every year in the GST regime. "The one per cent TCS is a working capital hit and a hindrance. I don't think it is end of the world, but it would be better if it was not ...

GST on gold deferred as consuming and producing states spar over rates

GST council today differed decision to 3 rd June meeting on which rate shall apply to gold following differences still persisting among consuming and producing states. Gold consuming states were insisting for 2 per cent GST on jewellery while other states were okay with five per cent tax. Council had proposed 4 per cent as consensus rate but ultimately decision could not be take.At present 1 per cent is effective excise duty while VAT is 1-1.25 per cent in most states. In Kerala it is 5 per cent but under composite scheme, which most jewelers have been opting for, effective rate is around 1.25 per cent. The Gem and Jewellery Federation of India- GJF- had proposed 1.25 per cent GST while Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association had proposed the rate of 2.25 per cent combining VAT and excise duty. Bullion industry is paying 10 per cent customs duty for imported old.However, in today's GST council meeting the issue of gold was to be finalized but apart from the rate differences, another .

GST rates: Congress adopts wait and watch policy over 28% slab on 19% items

The Congress adopted a wait and watch policy on the tax rates approved by the Goods and Services Tax Council saying it was still work in progress but expressed concerned over 28 percent slab applicable to just 19 percent items."At the moment it is work in progress. Full clarity does not exist regarding individual items. We will respond comprehensively only after specificity emerges in the proposals. But we are concerned over 28 percent rate even though it applies to only 19 percent of items," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told Business Standard.Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has been a strong votary of the 18 percent cap suggested by the main opposition party earlier when the GST bill was debated and passed in the parliament. Later, the Congress protested the four tier tax rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent approved by the GST council saying a tax rate over 18 percent will hit consumer interests and that a four-tier slab defied the very concept of a simple GST as ..

GST: Tourism industry rues high rates, says this could be its death knell

5-star hotels will be charged 28%; AC restaurants and those with liquor licence will be taxed at 18%

States seem ready for July 1 rollout of GST, though West Bengal says not

Rollout of the national goods and services tax (GST) on July 1 seems almost certain but some states are not fully geared.West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra has sought postponement of the deadline, in a letter to Union finance minister, Arun Jaitley. He says small and medium enterprises are not prepared. Sources add that if this is so, it would prevent large enterprises from seeking input tax credit. Mitra cited data from the Confederation of All India Traders to say that 70 per cent of small businesses are yet to adopt the needed technology. H K Dua, president of the Federation of Associations of Cottage and Small Industries, said it would make more sense to give a couple of months after the rates are announced. "Right now, there is hardly any preparedness."Gujarat, credited with preparedness, claims 90.14 per cent of the 498,000 manufacturers, dealers and traders on the existing tax platform have migrated to GST. Senior officials said the state was completely ready for July 1. ..

Odisha assembly passes GST Bill

The Odisha legislative assembly today passed the Odisha Goods & Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2017 and the Odisha Value Added Tax (VAT) Bill-2017, preparing the ground for transition to the new taxation regime.Both the Bills were unanimously passed in the assembly through voice vote. Though all political parties backed the GST Bill, the Opposition Congress questioned the haste in its passage. The Congress had moved a Cut Motion to refer the Bill to a select committee of the house, asking for more time to debate on its various provisions. The motion, was however rejected."This is a very important and sensitive Bill. It took 11 years for the Parliament to pass this Bill. The legislators have not gone through the Bill or understood it. More time should have been set aside to discuss and debate the Bill in detail. The Bill has 174 clauses that need careful attention. There is lack of clarity on whether Odisha stands to benefit or lose from the introduction of GST", said senior Congress ...

GST: Telecom, business class airfare costly; education, healthcare exempted

New tax regime to come to force on July 1

GST impact on major manufacturing sectors to be largely neutral: Crisil

Crisil believes that industry stabilisation, under new tax regime, will take a couple of quarters

GST makes transport affordable but pinches the luxury traveler

> The new Goods and Services Tax will make your travel cheaper but if be prepared for a bigger hole in pocket if you are a luxury traveler.True to its aim of making travel affordable the government did not increase the tax rate on the transport sector. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday announced that the rate of tax on the transport sector would be 5 percent. This is lower than the prevailing rate of tax rate of six percent while both passenger and sleeper class have been exempted from GST."Considering that transport is an essential part of the infrastructure, the GST council has decided to put rail, road and air travel in the lower bracket of five percent," finance minister Arun Jaitley told after the end of the two day GST Council meeting at SrinagarAnother reason for keeping the taxation rate on transport services in the lower bracket is because unlike other sectors the players in transport sector will not get input credit on taxes. "Since the transport sector's main input

GST rates on textiles deferred to June 3

With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council unable to arrive at a consensus on Friday on the textiles sector, the rate announcement has been deferred to June 3. The deferment is understandably due to complexities within the entire textiles value chain, in addition to the industry's anticipation of a fibre neutral taxation across the chain.According to textile industry representatives, differed rates for different parts of the textile value chain with some being taxed and some being exempt has led to tax evasion and flourishing of the unorganised sector. In addition, India has been a cotton heavy region in terms of fibre as compared to the global trend of a skewed in favour of man-made fibre (MMF). Tax variation in textiles has been such that currently, while fabrics do not attract excise duty or sales in most states in India, branded apparels are subject to both excise duty and sales tax. On the fibre front, natural fibre like cotton is exempt from any tax in the country though ...

GST rates unlikely to hurt inflation, RBI to be less hawkish: Icra

On services, standard rates at 18% input tax credit softens the impact on inflation in the future

18% GST rates may make telecom services expensive for customers: Telcos

Any rate beyond the existing 15% will further increase the burden on the industry says COAI DG

Four-tier GST rates ensure transparency, will aid in growth of biz: Experts

Healthcare and educational services are exempted from the purview of the GST

Economy class air travel to attract 5% GST; business class 12%

Air travel currently attracts tax rate of 6% and 9% for economy and non-economy travel respectively

No impact of GST on renewables, no need for lower taxes: Goyal

The new rates of solar power are even below the average rate of coal-based power

GST for services: Health, edu stay exempt; others taxed at 5, 12, 18, 28%

Transport to be taxed at 5%; restaurants with turnover of Rs 50 lakh or below will face 5% tax

Worried about GST rates? Know what gets cheaper and costlier from July 1

By the rates announced so far, it seems consumers can rest assured most items will become cheaper

GST rates: Consumer sector the biggest winner in the rates announced so far

While some near-term tax gains are partly factored in, bigger gains are more structural in nature

GST rates are in line with expectations: Kotak Research

Little deviation from current effective tax rates, except in case of a few consumer products