The GST Council might on Friday consider taxing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single national GST regime, a move that may require huge compromises by both central and state governments on the revenues they collect from taxing these products. The Council, which comprises central and state finance ministers, in its meeting scheduled in Lucknow on Friday, is also likely to consider extending the time for duty relief on COVID-19 essentials, according to sources in the know of the development. GST is being thought to be a solution for the problem of near-record high petrol and diesel rates in the country, as it would end the cascading effect of tax on tax (state VAT being levied not just on the cost of production but also on the excise duty charged by the Centre on such output).
One reason the fee can't be lower than 3 per cent is that it is difficult for an RIA to do a good job and remain viable even at 3 per cent.
Fresh plans of privatisation or divestment in central public sector enterprises and public sector banks might take a back seat this financial year because these may require a large consensus among coalition partners.
From connectivity woes to infrastructure advancements and the startup boom, there is a gulf between claims and reality in India's economic landscape, points out Devangshu Datta.
Any judgement on whether the March numbers reflect sustainable growth in GST collection should ideally await the numbers that will be out in May, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The proposed exemption in customs duty on import of lithium, cobalt and other rare minerals in the Union Budget 2024-25 is likely to lower the battery production cost and help in making electric vehicles more affordable for the buyers, auto industry leaders said on Tuesday.
All eyes will be on whether Sitharaman provides the much-expected tax relief for the middle class, leaving more money in their hands, as there is tax buoyancy
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has intervened in the matter concerning alleged irregularities by Trafiksol ITS Technologies, which had come out with a Rs 45 crore initial public offering (IPO) last month. In an ex-parte order, the market regulator has said it will undertake a detailed examination into the disclosures made by the small and medium enterprise (SME) company in its draft offer document. BSE had halted the listing of Trafiksol, a software provider for traffic systems, amid complaints around use of the issue proceeds and wrongful disclosures.
Three industry bodies suggested changes in India's tax regime in their pre-Budget discussions with Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra in New Delhi on Tuesday. The bodies - Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) - held separate meetings with Malhotra during the day and put across their suggestions for the upcoming Budget.
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2021 is Rs 1,29,780 crore of which CGST is Rs 22,578 crore, SGST is Rs 28,658 crore, IGST is Rs 69,155 crore (including Rs 37,527 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 9,389 crore (including Rs 614 crore collected on import of goods), informed the ministry of finance on Saturday. The government has settled Rs 25,568 crore to CGST and Rs 21,102 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue of the Centre and the states in the month of December 2021 after settlements is Rs 48,146 crore for CGST and Rs 49,760 crore for the SGST.
With 7 per cent economic growth, India is not creating enough jobs as reflected by the number of applicants for vacant posts in some states, Reserve Bank's former governor Raghuram Rajan said and suggested the government needs to focus on promoting labour-intensive industries to generate employment. Rajan further said some Indians, especially those at upper level, are comfortable and have high incomes, but consumption growth from the lower half of the country has still not recovered to pre-pandemic level.
The impact of Trump's announcement of increasing import tariffs will have negligible benefit for India not because of companies trying to shift from China to other countries or their supply chains being affected due to their Chinese operations but because of our faulty policies, explains Mudit Jain.
Come January and the government is empowered to send its recovery officials to your premises to collect GST without notice, if your tax liability shown in the requisite form is less than what invoices, mentioned in the outward supply form, should draw. The relevant provision in the Finance Act, 2021, will come into effect from January 1, 2022, according to a gazette notification issued on Tuesday. Under the GST system, there are two kinds of returns that a company is required to file monthly if its turnover is over Rs 5 crore annually. These are form GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the fundamental drivers of the Indian economy are gaining momentum and the country is moving on a sustainable growth path. In the inaugural address at FIBAC 2024, the governor said that massive changes are taking shape in various economic sectors and markets, and the country is geared for orbital shifts.
Domestic traders body CAIT on Thursday said that much against the declared spirit of GST as good and simple tax, it has become a "colonial taxation system" not compatible with the ground realities of business in India. Various amendments and introduction of rules under GST in the recent past have made the tax systems system much more complicated and put much compliance burden on the traders, it said in a statement. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) added that it is not alone the centre but largely the state governments are more responsible for distorting the GST taxation system and bringing disparities and anomalies in it which has made it a more complex system and a "big headache" for the traders.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said taxpayer base has almost doubled to 1.28 crore in four years of rollout of the historic tax reform and the enhanced GST mop up in the recent months should now be the "new normal". In a written message to tax officers on the fourth anniversary of GST rollout, she said implementing any reform of this scale in a large and diverse country like India can be highly challenging, but GST has brought about ease in taxpayer compliance and reduced common man's tax burden.
GST collections in February grew 18 per cent to over Rs 1.33 lakh crore in February even as the Omicron wave dented the month-on-month collection momentum. This is for the fifth time in the current fiscal that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has crossed Rs 1.30 lakh crore mark. Also, this is the first time, cess collection has crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark, signifying recovery in certain key sectors, especially automobile sales, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
For every rupee in the government coffer, 58 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, 34 paise from borrowings and other liabilities, six paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment and two paise from non-debt capital receipts, according to the Budget documents for 2023-24.
Although the June collections were higher than that in July, however, it is important to note that during the previous month, a large number of taxpayers also paid taxes pertaining to February, March and April 2020 on account of the relief provided due to COVID-19.
Charitable trusts are liable to pay 18 per cent GST on grants and non-philanthropic donations received by them, the Maharashtra AAR has ruled. Jayshankar Gramin Va Adivasi Vikas Sanstha Sangamner, a Charitable trust registered under Maharashtra Public Charitable Trust Act 1950, had approached the Maharashtra bench of the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR), seeking clarity on whether it is liable to pay GST on the amounts received in the form of donations/grants from various entities, including the central and state governments. The trust is also registered under the I-T Act as a charitable trust.
GST collections touched a record of Rs 1.40 lakh crore in January on rapid economic recovery, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. In her 2022-23 Budget speech, the minister said there has been a remarkable progress made in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, but still a few challenges remain. "Gross GST collection in January at record Rs 1,40,986 crores; this has been possible due to rapid economic recovery," she said while presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha. January is the seventh straight month when the GST collection has crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark.
With most states on board to raise revenue so that they do not have to depend on Centre for compensation, the GST Council at its meeting next month is likely to consider a proposal to do away with the 5 per cent slab by moving some goods of mass consumption to 3 per cent and the remaining to 8 per cent categories, sources said. Currently, GST is a four-tier structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Besides, gold and gold jewellery attract 3 per cent tax. In addition, there is an exempt list of items like unbranded and unpacked food items which do not attract the levy.
After a gap of nearly two years, India's industrial production turned negative as it contracted by 0.1 per cent in August, mainly due to a decline in the mining and power generation sectors' output, in addition to an almost flat expansion in the manufacturing sector. According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), factory output growth based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has also been revised downwards for July to 4.7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 4.8 per cent. "The IIP growth rate for the month of August 2024 is (-) 0.1 per cent, which was 4.7 per cent in the month of July 2024," NSO said in a release.
The finance ministry has set up two committees of state finance ministers which would rework rate slabs, review GST exempt items and identify potential evasion sources. Four years after the roll out of the national Goods and Services Tax (GST), which replaced the complex indirect tax structure, the centre and states have started work on moving towards a "simpler rate structure in GST" by reviewing the current rate slabs, including special rates and merger of rate slabs. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation would also review items under inverted duty structure to help minimise refund payout, and review the supply of goods and services exempt under GST with an objective to expand the tax base and eliminate breaking of input tax credit (ITC) chain.
The video clip shows Sitharaman purportedly giving a bite to the media and terming Goods and Services Tax as the Gopaniya Suchna Tax. It was shared by one Chirag Patel on his X handle.
'Assess the property in terms of type, size, location and price point, and whether it fits into your budget.' 'If it checks out on these fronts, one may consider the accompanying offers.'
Pulse oximeters, hand sanitisers, temperature check equipment and ambulances too will attract lower 5 per cent tax.
The GST collection in April touched the highest ever level of about Rs 1.68 lakh crore, up 20 per cent from the year-ago period, on improved compliance and recovery in business activity, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday. During the month, 1.06 crore GST returns from GSTR-3B were filed, of which 97 lakh pertained to March 2022. The gross GST revenue collected in April is Rs 1,67,540 crore, of which CGST is Rs 33,159 crore, SGST Rs 41,793 crore, IGST Rs 81,939 crore (including Rs 36,705 crore collected on import of goods) and cess Rs 10,649 crore (including Rs 857 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said.
The police received over 500 complaints alleging that many social media influencers and YouTubers promoted the HIBOX mobile application on their pages and lured people into investing through the app, the officer said.
The Centre has cleared the entire GST compensation payable till date by releasing Rs 86,912 crore to states, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. Of this, Rs 25,000 crore is released from the GST compensation fund and the balance Rs 61,912 crore is being released by the Centre from its own resources pending collection of cess. Of the total compensation released, Rs 17,973 crore is towards April and May dues, Rs 21,322 crore towards February-March dues and Rs 47,617 crore is the balance of compensation payable up to January 2022.
CAG recommended fixing a definite time frame for rolling out simplified GST return forms.
The demand for extension of the GST cess regime among others was made by several state finance ministers at a pre-budget consultation called by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. Besides, many states also demanded raising the share of the Union government in the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). Currently, the central government and state government share in some CSS is 60:40 while in others it is 75:25.
With Goods and Services Tax (GST) officers under pressure to exceed the Rs 1-trillion collection mark per month, industry has faced a barrage of recovery notices and summons issued over the last one month across sectors, according to company executives. Industry bodies have claimed harassment by field officers, blocking of input tax credit, cancellation of GST registration, threats of arrest and steep penalties, impacting their working capital and operations. Company executives pointed at an atmosphere of apprehension and fear due to such notices and summons.
'We have already given Rs 1.59 trillion to states.' 'So, there is no question of giving them more.'
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) will hold discussions with the Centre and state governments on how the production of compressed biogas (CBG), which can be used in vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG), can be expanded in the country, its majority shareholder Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) said. The demand for CNG vehicles has been rising significantly in the country. MSIL sold 145,000 CNG vehicles in the first quarter of 2024-25, marking a 28.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth.
'Ranbir Kapoor has only one film as does Salman Khan.' 'Hrithik Roshan only has War 2.' 'Ranveer Singh has no film on floors today.'
'There is a difference between a politician and leader.' 'A politician will have his pound of flesh first and do everything else later.' 'A leader will sacrifice everything to help people.'
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections at Rs 95,480 crore in September touched the highest level so far this fiscal, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
Gross GST collection in March touched an all-time high of over Rs 1.42 lakh crore, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. The gross GST revenue collected in March 2022 is Rs 1,42,095 crore, of which CGST is Rs 25,830 crore, SGST is Rs 32,378 crore, IGST is Rs 74,470 crore (including Rs 39,131 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 9,417 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods).
Heeding to demands made by several states, the GST Council on Friday put on hold a decision to hike the tax rate on textiles to 12 per cent and referred to a panel of state ministers to recommend rate by February, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. The panel, the highest decision-making body for indirect taxes, met under emergency provisions after states made a request for deferring the tax rate hike on textiles, from the current 5 per cent, to be effective from January 1, 2022. Currently, the tax rate on manmade fibre (MMF) is 18 per cent, MMF yarn 12 per cent, while fabrics are taxed at 5 per cent.