GST Council meet from Thursday to fix rates on goods, services

Jammu Tawi, May 17: The tax that 1.3 billion Indians will pay on buying salt to luxury cars and on services like phone calls to dining out will be decided at the GST Council meet starting  tomorrow in Srinagar, where a tight security cover has been thrown in view of recent protests.

The tax that 1.3 billion Indians will pay on buying salt to luxury cars and on services like phone calls to dining out will be decided at the GST Council meet starting tomorrow in Srinagar, where a tight security cover has been thrown in view of recent protests. Srinagar has been chosen as the venue for this crucial GST Council meeting, which will have in attendance Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his ministry officials as well as representatives of 29 states and union territories, to send out possibly a message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the importance it holds for the country.

The Council over the next two days will fit most of goods and services in either 5, 12, 18 or 28 per cent tax bracket. The rates thus fixed will be charged from July 1, the scheduled date for rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) –India's biggest tax overhaul since independence.

The GST will be a national sales tax that will be levied on consumption of goods or use of services. It will replace 16 current levies — seven central taxes like excise duty and service tax and nine state taxes like VAT and entertainment tax — thereby creating India as one market with one tax rate. Jaitley had earlier this month expressed confidence of the GST Council arriving at tax rates in the May 18-19 meeting.