GST tax rate cuts likely: Here is what will get cheaper and expensive

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council scheduled to hold its next meeting on July 21 is expected to announce another round of tax cuts on several items including sanitary napkins, handicrafts and handloom goods. According to reports, the Council is exploring the legality of imposing ‘agriculture cess’ on some luxury items, while most handloom and handicraft products and sanitary napkins could witness a tax cut. The GST Council is likely to discuss the implementation of the simplified monthly returns system.
 
Earlier in May, the GSTN had announced it will launch a single-return system for making the process easier and for improving compliance. Giving the blueprint of new filing system, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia reportedly said it will take between 6 and 12 months to get it fully implemented. The new filing system is expected to be implemented in phases. 
 
The single return filing system will be applicable for everybody except for businesses opting for composition scheme and filing nil returns, Adhia had said, adding that new single monthly return for B to C will have details of total turnover, for B to B it will have details of all sales invoices along with 4-digit HSN code. 
 
The GST Council had also proposed invoice matching along with the new filing system.
 
Notably, the tax rate rationalisation took place in November 2017, wherein, over 200 items were brought to lower tax brackets from 28%, 18%, and 12%. Later in January, tax rates were cut on 9 items, while increased on 2. The Centre has been criticised for too high taxes and too many tax slabs since the GST was implemented on July 1, 2017.

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There are reports that  GST Council may also consider bringing jet fuel (ATF) and natural gas under the ambit of GST but tax slab is acting as a deterrent. When Goods and Services Tax was introduced last year, five commodities including crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were kept out of its purview for the time being.