The new Financial year has begun amidst concerns for consecutively decreasing GST Revenues. Though the Government and the GST Council must have had a sigh of relief on Sunday after e-way bill platform was successfully launched post the disastrous first attempt on February 1st this year. In addition to this, the Government has sanctioned refunds worth about Rs 127 billion to exporters. The Government, for the time being, is ticking all the right boxes. Overall, GST has been a mixed bag for consumers.
Tax Compliance has also been a concern for governments of the past. Implementation of a transparent and taxpayer-friendly GST was always going to be an uphill task in a country like India where registered taxpayers constitute only a minimal fraction of the population. Over the years, Indirect taxes have always been a major source of Revenue generation for the various Central Governments. Add to this the PPP of the Indian common man and the Finance Minister was compelled to introduce a GST with tax slabs. The new financial year will witness a number of changes in these existing Tax norms. Some of the changes which would directly impact consumers include the new customs duty on electronic items as well as the fixed flat 5% GST rate on restaurant bills.
Electronic items were earlier exempt from all kinds of customs duty. However, this time the Government has levied 2 percent customs duty on electronic items. This means that mobile, refrigerator, LED, AC, washing machine etc. will get expensive. Digital India love is not going to be a cheap affair after all. However, eating out on a weekend gets cheaper now with reduced GST rate of 5% for restaurants.
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Making that custom furniture or buying that king size bed gets even costlier this financial year. Tiles, Hardware, and other such accessories are all set to get expensive with a 5% increase in GST rate. However, travelling by rail gets cheaper. Frequent travellers by rail will now get a tax rebate on online booking of tickets.
In addition to the fluctuation in consumer goods, common man must remain that it is mandatory from this financial year onwards to link all bank accounts to the Aadhaar Card of the AC holder. SBI has further announced a 75% discount on minimum balance for its customers.
The Indian Post Office Payments Banks are all set to be will be launched in this Financial Year. The oldest serving Government subsidiary will be hoping to regain lost ground and in the process rebuilt a loyal customer base reminiscent of the glorious yesteryears.
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