New Delhi: India’s federal government has not quantified the loss to the exchequer due to a lowering of the goods and services tax rates but a state ministers’ panel has endorsed the new rate structure, state ministers said on Thursday.
India’s government plans to slash the consumption tax it charges consumers and businesses by October, and proposed a two-rate structure of 5% and 18%, doing away with the 12% and 28% tax imposed on some items, a top official said last week.
The states ministers’ panel also recommended an additional levy on high-end luxury cars and other luxury items, or the so-called sin goods, which are proposed to be taxed at a new rate of 40%, one of the state ministers said.
The final decision will be taken by the GST council, which is chaired by the federal finance minister and includes all state finance ministers as members.
The GST council meeting is expected in September or October, before the Hindu festival of Diwali, the country’s biggest shopping season, celebrated in late-October this year.
A panel of Indian state ministers on GST has proposed exempting tax on health and life insurance premiums for individuals, two state ministers told reporters on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri, writing by Swati Bhat; editing by YP Rajesh)
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