The government is planning the remodelling of GST rates to simplify things and has started efforts in this direction. The Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the finance ministry Krishnamurthy Subramanian on June 29 said that the rationalisation of the GST rate structure
Presently, the Government has 4 primary GST slabs: 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Additionally, there is cess on luxury and demerit goods such as automobiles, etc. And on precious stones and metals, special rates of .25% and 3% are levied.
Originally in the year 2017, the roadmap was to have the 3 tier structure of GST. “However, what we have to be very cognizant about is that often with policymaking, you don’t want perfect to become the enemy of excellent. GST, the way it got created with five rates, was basically an excellent move because now we are seeing the amounts that are coming in. The policymakers must be given credit for being practical enough to say, ‘let’s get it going first’, Subramanian said.”
If the GST Council approves the merger of the 2 slabs then consequentially
Butter, Ghee, cheese and the spectacles might become expensive
Contrarily, soap, apparel and kitchenware might get cheaper.
In the report of the parliament that was tabled at the beginning of this year, the 15th Finance Commission (FFC) urged for restoring the rate neutrality of GST that had been compromised by rate cuts.