On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in view of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) said that the roll-out of the new indirect tax regime from July 1 will be a turning point for the economy. Notably, this was the first PM’s review on the freshly finalised rates by the GST Council.
PM Modi also said that the creation of one nation, one market, one tax would greatly benefit the common man. Significantly, all goods and services have been put in slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28%, with the exception of gold and precious metals, which will attract 3 per cent GST, and rough diamond at 0.25% GST.
As PM Modi reviewed the biggest tax reform since Independence ahead of its roll-out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and senior officials of the finance ministry and his office attended the meeting. Sources said the Prime Minister discussed cyber-security in detail and asked officials to pay maximum attention to it. The other cases under focus included the aptness of the officials – training and sensitization, query handling mechanism, and monitoring.
The single-biggest taxation amelioration since independence, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will include16 different taxes, including excise, service tax and VAT, and make India a single market for seamless movement of goods and services.
GST is estimated to boost GDP by 1-2 % and bring down inflation by 2 % over the long term.
