States rule out GST rate cut on automobiles amid grim revenue situation

Says slowdown in sector not linked to GST

Key states have expressed reservations on a cut in the goods and services tax (GST) rate for the auto sector because of the grim revenue situation, after the fitment panel refrained from recommending any such reduction.

Facing a deepening slowdown, the auto sector is pinning hopes on the GST Council meeting on September 20 for a GST 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.

“Bihar will not support any rate reduction on the auto sector, because the revenue position does not allow this,” said Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister, Bihar. Sushil Modi even ruled out supporting the sector by abolishing the cess component. “Where will the Centre get funds to compensate states? The revenue position is grim,” he said. The fitment committee in its meeting last week had stated a potential revenue loss of around Rs 50,000 crore annually in case the rate was reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

After big rate cuts by GST Council, only 35 goods left in 28% tax bracket

After the latest rounds of rate cuts by the GST Council on July 21, only 35 items are left in the 28% tax slab

The GST Council has pruned the 28 per cent slab by cutting tax rates on 191 goods over the last one year, leaving just 35 items, including AC, digital camera, video recorders, dishwashing machine and automobiles, in the highest tax bracket.

There were around 226 goods in the 28 per cent category when Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1, 2017.

Over the last one year, the Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister and comprising state ministers, has slashed rates in 191 items.

ALSO READ : Here’s everything that will get cheaper as new GST rates come into effect

The 35 goods, which will be left in highest slab once the new GST rates are implemented from July 27, also include cement, automobile parts, tyres, automobile equipments, motor vehicles. yachts, aircrafts, aerated drinks, betting and demerit items like tobacco, cigarette and pan masala.

Experts said going forward as the revenues stabilise, the Council may look at further rationalisation of the 28 per cent slab, to restrict the highest tax slab to super luxury and sin goods.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said it would be logical to expect that once the GST collections after the recent reductions stabilise, the remaining items such as televisions of all sizes, dishwashers, digital cameras, air conditioners could be considered for an 18 per cent rate…READ FULL SOURCE

Milk, Mercedes can’t be taxed at single GST rate, says PM Narendra Modi

To criticism that the GST was ‘hurriedly implemented’, the PM said the government had been responsive, with issues identified and redressed in real time

 

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Sunday ruled out a single slab for the goods and services tax (GST), stating that milk and the Mercedes could not have the same rate.

The GST regime was rolled out on July 1 last year. The central government on Sunday marked its first anniversary with an event in New Delhi, while Modi took to social media to showcase its advantages.

In an interview to Swarajya, a news website, Modi responded to criticism of his government’s version of the GST. He ruled out a single tax slab, pointed at the gains of the past one year, and admitted to teething troubles having plagued the regime in its first year.

To the Congress party’s criticism that there should be a single tax rate, he said: “It would have been very simple to have just one slab but it would have meant we could not have food items at 0 per cent tax rate. Can we have milk and Mercedes at the same rate?”

“So, when our friends in the Congress say that they will have just one GST rate, they are effectively saying they will tax food items and commodities, which are currently at 0 or 5 per cent, at 18 per cent,” Modi said.

To criticism that the GST was “hurriedly implemented”, the PM said the government had been responsive, with issues identified and redressed in real time.

The PM did not rule out the possibility that tax rates could come down further on some items. He said the government had reduced taxes on nearly 400 groups of items, and around 150 groups have a 0 per cent tax rate.

Modi also responded to the Opposition’s charge that the GST was “anti-people” by sharing on Twitter and the NaMo app the advantages the tax reform had brought for the common people. With the assembly elections scheduled in three key North Indian states in the next five months, and the Lok Sabha elections due in less than nine months, the PM tweeted that “decreasing prices”, because of the GST, were “helping poor and middle class”.

He also reached out to small businesses, a key support base of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and said the tax reform had provided “increasing opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs”. With the hashtag “GST for New India”, the PM tweeted that the GST had brought growth, simplicity, and transparency. He said it had boosted formalisation, enhanced productivity, and furthered “ease of doing business”.

The PM said the GST had been designed to “eliminate inspector raj with the help of information technology”, and suggested that the GST roll-out was consistent with his vision of “minimum governance”.

The PM in his last radio broadcast had said the tax reform was an example of cooperative federalism with decisions in all 27 GST Council meetings having been reached by consensus.

Modi said the number of enterprises registered since Independence until June 30, 2017, was 6.6 million. He said in just one year after the introduction of the GST, the number of new enterprises registered was 4.8 million. He said around 3.5 billion invoices were processed, 110 million returns were filed, and 100 million e-way bills generated. “Would we be looking at such numbers, if GST were indeed very complex?” Modi asked.

Click Here : PM Narendra Modi

India's GST rates are highest in the world: Manpreet Singh Badal

Congress will strongly raise the issue of compliance and reduction in tax rates at the GST Council meeting in Guwahati: Badal

 

 

 

Exclusion of energy, real estate, and power are leading to cascading of taxes, and need to be brought under the goods and services tax (GST), said Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. He told Dilasha Seth that the Congress will strongly raise the issue of compliance and reduction in tax rates at the Council meeting in Guwahati on Friday. Edited excerpts:

What are the key concerns that you have raised with the Centre on the GST?

We were told once the GST was implemented, India’s gross domestic product would go up by two per cent, but the opposite has happened. There is something fundamentally wrong with the GST — whether be it the rates, compliance, or the GST Network (GSTN) itself. We have gone in for a reform measure that is half-baked. The Indian GST rate is the highest in the world. Most countries start with a uniform GST rate of a single digit — at best, below 15 per cent; at worst, 18-20 per cent. The GST rates of 40 per cent are unheard of anywhere in the world.(economy policy)

Most of the issues on rates and compliance may get addressed in the Council meeting on Friday. Why is the Congress raising them now?

It has been five months since the GST roll-out. It is now that the government has woken up to the issues we have been talking about. It is too little, too late. It is not a question of the Congress or the BJP, but a question of the livelihood of millions. There has been a change of heart at the Centre. I do not know whether it has to do with the elections, but it needs to be done in the interest of the nation.

You also spoke about including real estate, petrol, and electricity under the GST. Will you effectively raise it in the meeting on Friday?

One has to bring petroleum, real estate, and electricity under the GST. This has, in fact, led to a lot of cascading of taxes across the board. For GST to be effective, all items must be subsumed. At least 50 per cent revenue has been kept out of the GST. There needs to be a discussion on this.

Compliance is another issue you have strongly raised. What is the big demand?

The requirement of matching nearly 3,500 million invoices every month with a possible 20 per cent mismatch will require additional working capital of close to Rs 1 lakh crore. Companies are not getting their input credit on time. Compliance should be made easier. The GSTN needs to be strengthened. The invoice matching glitches should be rectified. We hope to find a solution to that in today’s (Friday’s) meeting.

MARKETS : Sensex opens flat, Nifty holds above 9950 on mixed Asian cues

The benchmark indices opened lower tracking mixed Asian cues after on Friday Wall Street ended a six-day run of record highs after the first monthly decline in US non-farm jobs in seven years.

Sentiment turned cautious as earnings season for the July-September quarter kicks off this week with over 30 companies scheduled to report their Q2 numbers. These include, TCS, Reliance Industries, South India Bank, IndusInd Bank, Cyient, and Bajaj Corporation, among others.

The combined net profit of Nifty50 companies is expected to grow by 7.4% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in Q2FY18, against 1.8% decline during the June 2017 quarter and 8.5% growth during the corresponding period a year ago.

CATCH ALL THE  UPDATES

09:25 AM

Sensex heatmap at open 

 

 

 

09:22 AM
Broader markets

The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices outperformed slightly to gain 2% each.

 

09:21 AM
Markets at openAt 9:20 am,

the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,807, down 6.38 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,969, down 10 points.

09:08 AM
Q2 earnings preview

India’s top 50 listed firms, which comprise the benchmark NSE Nifty50 index, are expected to report a mild recovery in earnings during the July-September 2017 quarter, driven by a relatively good show by banks and commodity producers.

However, domestic manufacturers and information technology (IT) exporters are likely to continue in the slow lane due to a combination of the disruption due to the goods and services tax (GST), poor demand, and rise in input costs. 

09:02 AM
Nifty outlook by Prabhudas Lilladher

Nifty is now very likely to re-test the previous high as technically we see signs of improvement as RSI has bounced back from oversold and getting into a trend. The support for the week is seen at 9,820 while resistance is seen at 10,130. 

09:00 AM
Nifty outlook by Devang Shah

Short-term outlook for the market remains negative till Nifty trades below 10,095 levels and expecting target of 9,640-9,480 levels in short term. Medium term outlook for the market remains positive till Nifty trades above 8,968 levels and is expecting targets in the range of 12,000-12,200 levels in medium term. READ MORE

Full GST rate list: Here are the tax rates for all goods and services

Foodgrains are slated to cost less from July 1

Economy news| Foodgrains will cost less from July 1 when the nation-wide Goods and Service Tax (GST) is rolled out as the GST Council today decided to exempt the daily-use commodities from the levy.

Here's a complete  GST rate  list of all 1,211 items but six were finalised at the first day of the two-day meeting in Srinagar of the GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state representatives.

Also, here's a complete list of all the items that the GST Council has broadly approved as the rates of GST Compensation Cess to be levied on certain goods.

Read our full coverage on GST

GST on gold: Buying and making jewellery to get expensive for customers

It can be said that those who are not computerised and internet savvy have to be out of business

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has been kind enough to provide a special 3 per cent GST to gems and jewellery sector ( the exception being rough diamonds at 0.25 per cent).

Going by the economic survey of India and the hype which was created in the run-up to this meeting, a much higher rate was feared. However, the rate of GST for jewellery is in line with what it was under the old tax regime.|economy news

GST has increased paperwork and lot of compliance. Only time will tell if we as a country or an industry are ready for it.

The immediate impact would be on the investment buying of gold by consumers as the resale value will be down by three per cent. Here' an example:

Mr A bought gold worth Rs 100
Paid GST                                Rs 3
                                         —————
Total cost                            Rs 103

Now, after 6 months he wants to sell this gold and presuming that the gold price remains constant, he will get Rs 100 and the GST amount would be lost at the consumer level.

The transaction impact cost has increased from about one per cent to three per cent.

From the government's point of view, this is in line with their thinking/ planning — don’t invest in physical gold, rather invest in gold sovereign bonds. The consumer will also be better of as there is an interest coupon attached to bonds and it tracks local gold prices.

The exchange business of old jewellery for new ones will also be affected as the cost of 3 per cent will affect the transaction.| economy & policy

Another area which will affect the industry and the consumer is making of gold jewellery out of gold/scrap supplied by the customer. At present, there was no tax impact on the making of jewellery. Labour or making charges of jewellery were exempt from service tax (similar exemption was also under excise rules ). Under GST no such exemptions exist and making charges will be subject to 18 per cent GST. This is an undesired result.

Export from domestic tariff area (other than SEZ ) will be hit on two counts:

One, there is no exemption from GST for gold procured for export purposes. This would mean a higher blockage of working capital.

Insulin, cashews, pickles to get cheaper: GST Council reduces rates of 66 products

Telecom rates unchanged; meeting on June 18 to discuss residual issues

With two weeks to go for the goods and services tax (GST) roll-out, the GST Council on Sunday reduced the rates for 66 items and expanded the scope of the composition scheme for the benefit of small traders, manufacturers, and restaurateurs. The composition scheme is a presumptive taxation scheme allowing small traders, manufacturers and restaurants to pay a 1-5 per cent GST rate on sales without tax credits.

Insulin, pickles, printers, agarbattis, school bags, and cashew nuts are among the 66. Those were among 133 items whose rates were reviewed following industry representation. However, the GST rates for telecom services, marbles, granite, spectacles, among others, were retained, which drew flak from the respective sectors.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is the head of the Council, said in certain cases the rate fitment committee went beyond the equalisation principle of maintaining the current tax incidence.|Economy news

“There are certain items that were historically taxed at a higher rate, but the Council felt that the burden needed to be reduced,” said Jaitley. The finance minister said the average of all the rates decided by the Council was significantly lower than the present tax incidence.

On the question about any further revision of rates, he said the fitment committee and the GST Council had gone into all the cases in depth and the rates had been decided after discussion.

“These broadly are the final rates... Just because somebody raising an issue does not mean you have to grant it,” he said.

On the automakers’ pitch for a lower rate for hybrid cars, Jaitley said the facts presented by the industry were not correct. “If necessary, it will come up for discussion,” Jaitley said.

The current level of tax on hybrid cars stands at 30.3 per cent, as against 43 per cent (28 per cent plus 15 per cent cess) decided by the Council.

Providing relief to small entities under the GST, the composition scheme has now been expanded to traders, manufacturers, and restaurants with an annual turnover of Rs 75 lakh as against Rs 50 lakh decided earlier.

 (read more....)