The Goods and Services Tax Council will meet on Saturday in the capital to finalise tax rates on goods such as textiles, footwear, gold, beedis and cigarettes, biscuits, bio-diesel, and agricultural implements.
The Council will also discuss the possibility of postponing the roll out of the new tax regime from the current deadline of July 1, according to officials in the Ministry of Finance. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has stressed this week that the state is not entirely prepared to kick off the new tax regime from July.
Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Mr. Jaitley, who chairs the GST Council, said on Thursday that during the last meeting there was almost a complete agreement among states about rolling out the new tax regime from July 1.
Finance Ministry officials also said that the Council would discuss some revisions in the rates of goods and services already set, but that most of the discourse in the one-day meeting would be dominated by the discussion over the date of implementation.
Industry bodies representing several sectors, including agro-foods, educational book publishers, amusement park operators, and nuts and dry-fruit retailers, have registered their protests against the GST rates applicable to them. The Confederation of All India Traders has also written to Mr. Jaitley requesting a revision of rates on certain products and services.
Of the over 1,200 items for which rates have so far been decided, 7% have been put under the exempt list, 14% items will attract a tax rate of 5%, 17% of the items will be taxed at 12%, and 43% will be taxed at 18%. The remaining 19% items will be taxed at 28%.
