High Inflation Rate May Slow New GST Amendments on Products: Sources

As the current inflation is running it is not expected to change the GST rates on the goods and services. 

Goods and services would get taxed in four slabs of 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% beneath the GST regime. It was acknowledged to diminish these tax slabs reaching three, a practice that engaged raising the taxes on some objects and a diminishing in others. Gold and gold jewellery draw a 3% tax. However, with the inflation rate running at an all-time high, there shall no scope for revising the GST rate. 

Besides the Indian economy recovering from covid in 2021, the geopolitical tension this year shall again impact it. “The Council in the past was not unmindful of the then prevailing situation, sources articulated.”

Beneath GST, some items are either privileged or taxed at the lowest slab, while the luxury and demerit objects draw the highest slab. The luxury and sin goods draw cess with higher value at 28% slab. The collection of cess would be used to compensate stated towards the loss in revenue because of the implementation of GST. 

The GST official in the former year has made a panel of state ministers led by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, recommending increasing the revenue via revising the GST rates and updating the irregularities in the tax rates. 

During the time of GST execution on July 1, 2017, the centre coordinated to compensate the states for 5 years till June 2022, and secure their revenue at 14% per annum over the base year revenue of 2015-16. 

The GST official over the years has frequently surrendered to the demands of the trade and industry and diminished the tax rates. For instance, various goods draw the highest 28% tax draws down from 228 to less than 35. 

Approximately 18 cesses get abolished when the GST was incorporated in 2017. The collection from these cesses in 2016-17 was near Rs 56,641 cr.

Through the GST execution, these cesses were subsumed inside GST and the collections are shared with the states beneath the devolution formula. 

The primary cesses that stay are the GST compensation cess, health and education cess, and cess for central road and infrastructure fund. This cess collection has supported several government schemes and development activities. 

Rs 2.03 trillion was the collection through the road and infrastructure cess in 2021-22, and Rs 1.38 lakh crore is the budget that is estimated for the present financial year. 

Rs 1.05 trillion was the former collection from the GST compensation cess, whereas the budget was calculated at Rs 1.2 trillion in the present financial. 

Collection via health and education cess was stood at Rs 47,307 cr in the former fiscal, and is budgeted to increase to Rs 53,846 cr in this financial year.