Snehal khanna Blog

The GST Council is likely to cut the tax rate on electronic items such as washing machine, refrigerator and air conditioner, which are in the top 28 per cent slot, in the next round of rationalisation. Last week, the Council overhauled the new tax regime, reducing the 28 per cent tax levied on 178 items to 18 per cent or lesser. Most important of them all, the Council decided to slash the GST rate on AC and non-AC restaurants to 5 percent from the current 18 per cent slab. The new rates have been effective since November 15. According to The Times of India, a fresh round of rate cuts is likely as the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister, hinted that only luxury or sin goods are going to stay in the top slot. The move will be a big relief for consumers who might have felt the pinch. While rejecting the idea of the single tax system, Arun Jaitley said, “Rationalisation process in the transition will always continue. So, wherever there is scope for improvement and procedural...

Ambiguous rules, multi-rate sales tax have left firms confused on how to price their products LATEST NEWS  : Nationwide goods and services tax (GST) was meant to unify the $2-trillion economy and make it easier for companies to transact across state borders. Nearly a month on, many are finding that doing business is more complicated than ever. Ambiguous rules under the new, multi-rate sales tax that went into effect on July 1 have left firms confused on how to price their products. The tax's complex structure — four main rates ranging from 5 to 28 per cent — has hurt sales and risks denting economic growth and government revenues in the months ahead. Airlines, for example, are uncertain whether to tax premium economy seats as an economy or business class — at rates of 5 percent or 12 per cent, respectively. Auto repair shops face a similar quandary as GST rates vary for different jobs. "People are either overcharging or undercharging for their work,...

Experts help clear doubts around the impact of the new indirect tax regime on businesses LATEST NEWS : I am a service provider having offices in multiple states. Under the service tax regime, I had a centralised billing system. Under the GST regime , should I change my billing system and start raising invoices from the local branch? Jivi Jebaraj, Chennai In the GST regime, service providers are required to obtain registration in each state where they have a place of business. The concept of centralised registration is now redundant. If the services are entirely supplied from the branch, or the branch plays a significant role in supplying the services, then such a branch shall be required to raise invoices and charge applicable GST. It is critical to identify the “establishment” rendering the service and the “establishment” receiving the service to complete the input tax credit chain. How do I ensure that I pass on the benefit to consumers in accordance with the ant...

Govt has given 3 months time to reprint revised MRPs under the Packaged Commodities: Paswan tweeted Latest news : The government on Tuesday warned that legal action will be initiated against manufacturers for not printing the revised MRP post rollout of the GST. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the government has given three months time till September to reprint the revised maximum retail price (MRP) with the implementation of the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) . In a series of tweets, Paswan said that prices of some commodities have fallen, while some have increased with the implementation of GST. "Fall in prices due to lower GST should be passed on to consumers. ...The government will take legal action against vendors not declaring revised MRP after GST," he said. The revised rates should be displayed on commodities so that consumers are aware what is the MRP of each item after GST, he added. "The government has given...

Renault has reduced prices of vehicles ranging between Rs 5,200 & Rs 1.04 lakh by 7% in India Latest news     : French car major Renault on Wednesday announced a reduction in the price of its vehicles by up to 7 per cent in India, ranging between Rs 5,200 and Rs 1.04 lakh, to pass the GST benefit to its customers. The company has cut price of its hatchback Kwid Climber AMT between Rs 5,200 to Rs 29,500, SUV Duster RXZ AWD between Rs 30,400 to Rs 1,04,700 and that of Lodgy Stepway RXZ between Rs 25,700 to 88,600. "Reflecting our customer-first approach, we have decided to pass on GST benefits to our customers, further enhancing the value proposition of our products," Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said in a statement. The roll out of the GST is one of the biggest achievements of the government, facilitating one nation, one tax system, aimed at fostering a congenial business environment, he added. ...

The realisation of a common indirect tax is critical for the semblance of a common Indian market Latest news : Termed as one of the biggest reforms of India’s complicated indirect tax base since 1991, the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill, enabling the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) seems to have become a reality at last. On March 29, 2017, with the passing of four bills related to different aspects of the GST via the Lok Sabha, the Indian parliamentary system has demonstrated a strong will for enhancing cooperative federalism by signing off on a ‘pooling of sovereignty’ in taxation matters applicable for all 32 states. The realisation of a common indirect tax, like the GST is critical for the semblance of a common Indian market where all goods and services, depending on the elasticity of their consumption, will broadly be governed under a common indirect tax rate system. In an earlier article, I discussed how regressive India’s tax structu...

By the rates announced so far, it seems consumers can rest assured most items will become cheaper Latest news : The Goods and Services Tax (GST) rehime is set to be rolled out from July 1, more than 11 years after a formal process to introduce it began. The GST Council on Thursday fixed rates for 1,211 items. In the second half of the Council meet, on Friday, rates of services and products like beedi, cigarettes, tobacco, footwear, gold, textile, handloom, handicraft, agricultural equipment and biscuits, will be discussed. It appears from the first set of announced rates that consumers can rest assured most of the items will become cheaper (for now) as the new rates will be lower than the current effective levies. Mobiles phones, however, might get costlier, with the government imposing a 12% GST, taking away the benefit under duty differential that was being offered to local manufacturers. So, under the new GST rate, while imported phones will become cheaper, most l...

Most companies are minimising the stocking at the distributor level before the roll-out of GST Latest news : The pharmaceutical industry expects supply shortages as it gears up for transition into the goods and services tax (GST) regime from July 1. Inventories lying with stockists at the end of May were lower than the levels the previous month, with most companies minimising stocks lying with distributors, ahead of GST implementation. According to the data from the market research wing of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), the AIOCD-AWACS, May saw a marginal reduction in Day 1 inventory being carried by distributors. For the overall Indian Pharmaceutical Market (IPM) there is a reduction of 1.3 days in inventory. AIOCD represents over 500,000 medicines sellers across India. Analysts claim that apart from the stockist inventory, the in-transit stocks too have fallen. Basically, the stockists do want to be saddled up with old stock. There is so...