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The Direct Taxes Code bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2010 and Standing Committee on Finance has given a report after its scrutiny.
The Centre managed to collect only Rs 990 crore as compensation cess in April 2020-21, almost one-ninth of the figure of Rs 8,874 crore mopped up a year ago. The subdued collection would further increase states' problems unless the GST Council, which meets next week, decides to borrow from the market.
States should have enough time. We still do not know the rules. There are a lot of operational difficulties, says Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu.
Modi campaigned on the issue of national security, which cannot be ensured without a strong economy.
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.
There are indications or signs of the economy picking up -- collection of GST and consumption of electricity, said former RBI governor, C Rangarajan.
A hike in cess on luxury cars will not only hinder Jaguar Land Rover's network expansion but also prevent it from introducing new technologies in India, JLR India managing director Rohit Suri tells Shubham Parashar in an interview.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
Congress preparing a dissent note on the issue
The Gujarat International Finance Tech-City, or Gift City, is expected to be spread over 886 acres and will have a special economic zone on 261 acres.
Unlike the first two stimulus packages, this time the focus would be on boosting demand.
The Centre is grappling with the question of its fiscal roadmap not only for this year but for 2018-19
GST collections in March slipped below the psychological Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for the first time in four months to Rs 97,597 crore as the Covid-19 lockdown that shut most businesses compounded tax collection woes in an already sluggish economy. Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up in March recorded a 8.4 per cent decline over March 2019 collection of Rs 1.06 lakh crore. The collections were lower on account of dip in revenues from domestic transactions as well as imports.
GST council may propose a faster refund procedure, deferment of electronic way bill, further simplification of composition scheme
Also on the anvil is abolition of distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure and replacing it with capital and revenue expenditure
Proposals from the Centre's side include raising the 5 per cent slab to anywhere between 6 and 8 per cent, and doing away with the 12 per cent slab. A few states may oppose such a move because it involves hiking tax on items consumed by the poor. They have instead proposed raising the 18 per cent slab.
Ficci also said the new leadership is expected to recognise the industry concerns on land, labour and environment.
"There will be some challenges" in the switchover to GST in the short term, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has warned.
The broad trends of GST collections will make you wonder if indeed the biggest indirect tax reform in the country has led to a real improvement in revenues, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The total revenue earned by central government and state governments after regular settlement in December was Rs 43,851 crore for CGST and Rs 46,252 crore for SGST.
Fiscal federalism should not be sacrificed at the altar of GST.
The GST Council on Saturday is expected to extend the date for IGST exemption and cess on imports
It was better to first build a single-rate GST with a low rate, achieve full mastery of this, and then consider more complex possibilities such as high rates and multiple rates.
A road map could be laid out for a gradual reduction in the tax rates from the current incidence of about 62-94 per cent without causing a major blow to the revenues of the Centre and the states. The opportunity arising out of higher GST collections should not be squandered, says A K Bhattacharya.
GST rates on under-construction houses maybe reduced from 12 pc with input tax credit to 5 pc without ITC. Similarly, the rate for under-construction affordable houses could come down to 3 per cent without input tax credit, from the current 8 per cent.
Precious ornaments are estimated to become 3% costlier under GST
The deposit has been made on account of the rate reductions approved by the GST Council in its November. The rate was reduced on items including shampoo, detergents, chocolates, beauty products, sanitary ware, leather clothing, cookers, stoves, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power. Companies found it difficult to pass on the benefits to consumers immediately at the time of GST rate reduction owing to logistical issues.
Retaining the GST rate assumes importance since states are under pressure to increase their revenues, hit hard by lockdown. Also, the Centre has not fully compensated states for their revenue losses on account of GST for 2019-20.
With organisations like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which is a front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, telling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman they want OPS back, the government is in a bind, report Shiva Rajora and Aditi Phadnis.
Durable, automobile and real estate players have been lobbying hard for a tax cut, saying it will boost demand.
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The GST Bill, introduced in Parliament in 2010, is being vetted by the Standing Committee on Finance. Now, the states and the Centre would together finalise the draft and bring it back to Parliament.
The GST has been a great achievement, but it does suffer from weaknesses, says Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.
The dates of general elections in 2019 and the presentation of the final Budget of the Modi government are so far removed from each other that Jaitley is not under any pressure to present a populist Budget. Instead, he could well unveil an array of schemes and proposals that he believes are necessary for the economy, even if a few of them could be unpopular, says A K Bhattacharya.
The industry alleges the government has been apathetic, despite their pleas for quick action. However, H2 may be different as The US-China trade war had opened a window for Indian exporters to ship more to America.
Going ahead, the likely implementation of the goods and services tax bill in July and how the monsoons play out will have a bearing on India's demand for gold and gold jewellery
'A broad-based revival of private sector investment was likely in 2018-19 after businesses had successfully made the switch to the GST.'
The proposed bullion bank can help settle gold loan accounts in gold terms, and promote existing gold schemes, along with launching schemes including gold-recurring deposits.
Govt doesn't buy restaurants' input tax excuse and has swing into action and looking into profiteering complaints on social media against prominent restaurant and franchise chains.
Facing a deepening slowdown, the auto sector is pinning hopes on the GST Council meeting on September 20 for a rate cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. However, states including Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, and Punjab are of the view that the slowdown in the auto sector is not because of the GST rate but structural issues in the economy.
The GST Council last year imposed a cess of 15 per cent on hybrid vehicles, in addition to the 28 per cent GST, leading to a total tax burden of 43 per cent against a previous tax rate of 28 per cent.
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