NEW Delhi: Goods and Services (GST) 2.0 is ready to be a “game changer”, later leading to single tax rate, news agency PTI said on Saturday citing government sources. It carried forward the “hypocrisy” of the Congress party to claim credit for reforms, saying that it was not even present in Parliament when the Landmark GST law was passed in 2017 “.Congress leaders have argued that the Center was now moving forward on only one reform which they had been advocating for years. Citing a change in GST and a cap at 18%, the party argued that PM Modi’s announcement confirmed its long criticism of the current structure, citing Rahul Gandhi’s 2018 posts and videos.Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised a Diwali gift for citizens as GST reforms and reduced tax burden during his Independence Day address.“This Diwali, I am going to make it a double Diwali for you … In the last eight years, we have made a big improvement in GST … We are bringing the GST reforms of the next generation. This will reduce the tax burden across the country,” he said.Subsequently, the Center rolled out a draft blueprint for GST 2.0, proposed two primary slabs, 5% for essential commodities and 18% for most other items, to simplify the system and reduce compliance for both citizens and businesses. The overhaul plan reviewed by a group of state finance ministers on Thursday suggested scraping the current 12% and 28% rates, staging compensation cess before the march deadline, and put 40% levy on the belongings of sin.Current GST framework has five main slabs, nils, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with additional rates applied to precious metals of 0.25% and 3%. Currently, about 21% of all goods belong to 5% bracket.
