Any reduction on purifiers would need consensus among state finance ministers.
Three laws passed in Parliament could boost central revenues, reshape GST cess flows, shift MGNREGA costs to states and create new budget headroom ahead of the 2026-2027 Union Budget, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Real-estate firms have welcomed the Goods and Services Tax Council's reforms, expecting better affordability for buyers, spurring demand. The council has reduced the rate on cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, while the rate on sand lime bricks or stone inlay work and granite blocks has been cut to 5 per cent from 12 per cent.
Since items in the 12% category account for only about 5% of total GST, the additional boost to consumption may not be significant, points out M Govinda Rao.
'In case a particular industry has not passed on the benefits and if we receive complaints, we will take up the matter with the industry body concerned.'
'Rates go up, revenues go up, and the need for compensation diminishes.'
As RBI governor, Sanjay Malhotra will have to give the highest priority to the interest of the economy while deciding on the growth-inflation trade off at Mint Street.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
Of the two rate structures on the table, one suggests tax slabs of 8 per cent, 16 per cent, and 24 per cent. The other proposes tax slabs at 9 per cent, 18 per cent, and 27 per cent.
The FM flew to Chennai on Sunday to inaugurate Nandavanam, the central revenue quarters of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at Anna Nagar in Chennai.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
Dominic Xavier wonders whether the steep decline in GDP numbers should be considered as an act of God too.
Seven of the meetings will be held in late November or early December at the finance ministry, as is the norm.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the dismal state of the Indian economy and the terrifying rise in COVID-19 infections with each passing day.
The Centre is looking to convene a meeting of the all-powerful Goods and Service Tax Council in early January. The meeting is likely to focus on rectifying the inverted duty structure for a few more items and will also serve as a platform for pre-Budget discussions between Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and state finance ministers, Business Standard has learnt. "The current Winter Session of Parliament ends on December 23, followed by the Christmas-New Year period. "After that we would like to have a meeting of the GST Council, depending on whether there can be a quorum," a top government official said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the much-awaited 2022-23 Union Budget on February 1. While there has been strong recovery in some sectors, touch services like hospitality, tourism and leisure continue to suffer after two Covid-19 waves. Household savings have been hit due to increased spending on health care. Consumption has still not reached pre-pandemic levels.
The Congress will respond comprehensively only after specificity emerges in the proposals, reports Amit Agnihotri.
Rs 14.5 lakh crore of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have been deposited as of 30/12.
'Since the NDA took office in 2014, and aggressively since 2019, the Union government seems hell bent on centralising all power and resources, only to fail spectacularly.'
As cess levied under GST isn't shared by states, most states oppose it on the ground that it would set a wrong precedent and distort the GST structure.
The 50-share NSE Nifty ended flat, up 5.80 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 10,308.95.
Rationalisation of rates will be taken up for smaller items that do not have major revenue implications but are commonly consumed at the GST Council meet on Saturday
Investors must be prepared to believe that things will get better eventually, no matter how bad the current situation may look. If you don't possess this optimism, you will not possess the courage to invest and if you don't invest, you don't give yourself any chance to get wealthy, says Devangshu Datta.
Parrikar took a dig at Digvijaya Singh, saying the latter's incompetence led to the BJP forming the government in the state.
"After the meeting which took place in Srinagar last week, it is safe to say that GST will be levied across the country starting July 1," Gangwar told ANI.
Fridge, washing machine, and paint makers are expected to cut prices shortly, while TV, aircon, and sanitary napkin makers are a disappointed lot
The focus will be on tackling the unfinished agenda requiring immediate attention like tax structure for solar projects, uniform tax rate on state-organised and state-authorised lotteries, taxing non-potable alcohol besides certain changes in the law, extension for NAA and rate rationalisation.
'The Modi government is trying hard to see if it could be sold to a private airline.' 'But it appears there are no takers.' 'If no buyer comes forward by June, the government will close down Air India,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
Kerala has seen one of the worst floods in its history during this monsoon. From August 8 to 20, nearly 223 people have lost their lives, 33 are missing and around 1.2 million individuals from 3,02,441 families are in 3,941 relief camps. Initial losses are estimated to be around Rs 200 billion (Rs 20,000 crore). With the rescue measures in its last leg, the Kerala government is looking at raising funds to rebuild the state. In an interaction with Gireesh Babu and T E Narasimhan, Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac says he has a three-pronged strategy to raise funds. Edited Excerpts.
'The only way to minimise logical inconsistencies and confusion is to develop the two rates of 12% and 18% as the ones that apply to almost all items.' 'At a later stage, these two rates could be merged into a single rate,' advises T N Ninan.
'We have set out a timetable to reduce income tax rates for all incomes below Rs 50 lakh, and to progressively eliminate the surcharges on income above Rs 50 lakh, by 2024.' The Budget speech past CII president Naushad Forbes wants to hear.
The council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to 1 per cent from the current 8 per cent.
Shadow of elections may overshadow political consensus at GST Council meetings.
'Today the real issue facing the Modi government is not about investment, credit and money supply and all those things economists like to talk about.' 'It is whether your average citizen has confidence in the government not to do something utterly whacky,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The new tax rates will come into effect from January 1, 2019.
Modi said his critics were seeing slowdown in the last two quarters but were ignoring that the BJP government had brought down inflation from 10% to 2.5%.
The council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will meet again on December 11 and 12 to hammer out the differences.
The Centre would need the concurrence of 20 states out of 29 to impose a GST on petroleum
Cap on bank withdrawals to be reviewed after Dec 30, says finance secy.
The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances