Revenue Secretary expects GST to ease the tax burden by 25 to 30%

GstAccording to a senior government official, the goods and services tax (GST) will offer relief to the tax payers by 25-30 percent. The GST is planned to be levied from the next financial year across the country and would be charged between 17 to 18 percent.

The revenue secretary, Mr. P V Bhide has informed that the launch of GST will help in removing inefficiencies and multiplicities in the current tax regime, which in order help in reducing the tax burden to 25 -30 percent.

Union Finance Ministry has circulated the draft of GST in the month of November, which is still under debate by all stakeholders including traders and industrialists and taxation experts. But through a detailed presentation at a conference, the director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Mr. M Govinda Rao has indicated that the effective GST rate would be between 17-18%.

At the conference, Mr. Bhide further informed that the real estate sector would also be brought under the GST. He added that when the various domestic taxes such as CST, VAT are merged with GST, it will become uniform across the country. This inclusion will benefit the local manufacturers which complaint that there is no difference drawn between the importers and the local producers on the tax rates.