Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley on Monday said that country is moving towards a single standard rate instead of the current 12 per cent and 18 per cent tax slab in GST.
In a Facebook post titled ‘Eighteen Months of GST’, Jaitley said 28 per cent tax slab would soon phase out except for luxury or sin goods and that the standard rate could be a mid-point between 12 and 18 per cent. Adding that the standard single rate would take some time to implement, Jaitley wrote, “The country should eventually have a GST which will have only slabs of zero, 5% and standard rate with luxury and sin goods as an exception.”
He added in the post, “With the goods and services tax (GST) transformation completed, we are close to completing the first set of rates of rationalisation i.e. phasing out the 28 per cent slab except in luxury and sin goods,” he said. The 28 per cent slab is now a dying slab,” he said. Currently, 28 items, including luxury and sin goods, auto parts, dishwashers, AC and cement remain in the highest slab of 28 per cent.
