State finance ministers call for simplicity of GST
Updated: Nov 20, 2015 04:59:53pm
New Delhi, Nov 20 (KNN) Indian state finance ministers today sought for simplification of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) but did not discuss what rate it should be set at.
A meeting of a high-level GST committee was held on Friday.
Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister and finance minister of the Delhi city government, said the panel wanted to focus on simplifying administration of the GST rather than lowering the rate.
"Rates were not discussed today," said Sisodia, who chaired the meeting. A sub-committee was set up to decide on a threshold below which small businesses would be exempted from the sales tax, he told reporters.
The GST, the most ambitious tax reform since independence in 1947, would unify Asia's third-largest economy into a single market, and could add as much as two percentage points to the economy, the government estimates.
A percentage rate has not yet been agreed but a range in the low-to-mid 20s has been discussed, leading to concerns that such a high rate would encourage tax evasion. Sisodia, speaking for Delhi, said he supported a rate of 25 percent.
The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers will meet next month to decide on a new chairman, Sisodia said. (KNN Bureau)
A meeting of a high-level GST committee was held on Friday.
Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister and finance minister of the Delhi city government, said the panel wanted to focus on simplifying administration of the GST rather than lowering the rate.
"Rates were not discussed today," said Sisodia, who chaired the meeting. A sub-committee was set up to decide on a threshold below which small businesses would be exempted from the sales tax, he told reporters.
The GST, the most ambitious tax reform since independence in 1947, would unify Asia's third-largest economy into a single market, and could add as much as two percentage points to the economy, the government estimates.
A percentage rate has not yet been agreed but a range in the low-to-mid 20s has been discussed, leading to concerns that such a high rate would encourage tax evasion. Sisodia, speaking for Delhi, said he supported a rate of 25 percent.
The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers will meet next month to decide on a new chairman, Sisodia said. (KNN Bureau)
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