Goods and Services Tax Regime: With the intention of simplifying the tax structure and reducing the burden on the consumers, there was a demand for change in the GST tax regime.
New Delhi. Taxpayers expecting changes in the GST regime do not seem to be getting any relief. In fact, a senior government official said on Monday that India will not change its Goods and Services Tax Regime in the next financial year. Let us tell you that in order to simplify the tax structure and reduce the burden on the consumers, a change was being considered for more than a year.
Currently five tax rates ranging from 0 percent to 28 percent are applicable for GST across the country. They were introduced in the year 2017. In 2021, the government had considered tax reform by merging 2 tax rates of GST, reducing the rates applicable on many items, due to criticism regarding GACT rates.
Minor changes will always happen
Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said in an interview that at the moment we only want to maintain stability (in tax rates), a stable tax regime. He said that minor changes will always happen, but we are not thinking of making any changes in 2023/24, such as merging the GST tax rates.
The government wants to keep a lower tax band
Malhotra said that the government would eventually like to keep a lower tax band, but did not give any timeline. There is certainly a target for lower rates and there may be scope for reducing tax slabs. This can be done in some time, but not now, the Government of India is trying to simplify its taxation structure for custom duty as well. Going forward, we want the custom rates to come down as well.
