TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today promised not to spring any surprises in fixing tax rates under the new GST regime, saying they will not be “significantly different” from current levels. He, however, said companies should pass on to consumers the benefit of reduction in taxes under GST which will eliminate the current compounding effect of different central and state levies.
The GST Council, headed by Mr Jaitley and comprising representatives of all the states, is scheduled to meet in Srinagar on May 18-19 to finalise tax rates on different goods and services after unifying at least 10 indirect taxes into the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Speaking at CII’s Annual Meeting, he said rules and regulations governing GST have all been framed. “We are now in final stages of fixing tariffs for different commodities,” he said.
“The formula under which it is being done has also been explained and therefore nobody is going to be taken by surprise, it’s not going to be very significantly different (from present),” he said. The GST Council has finalised four rate categories of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent after unifying levies like central excise, service tax and VAT.
