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"Proposed GST would help
achieve common market for goods and services at lower
tax rates, avoiding cascading effect of these taxes,"
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at CII conference
on Competition Policy.
He said the Empowered Committee of state finance
ministers has released a discussion paper on GST and all
the stakeholders will deliberate over it.
As per the paper, there will be two basic state GST
rates on goods, besides a special rate on precious
metals. However, services will attract single rate.
It proposes replacing central levies like excise duty,
service tax, special additional duty, countervailing
duty by GST.
State levies such as VAT, sales tax, entry tax etc would
also be subsumed. Besides all this, central and state
cesses and surcharges would be out, once GST comes.
The Finance Minister also allayed fears that private
sector would be left with little resources because of
high fiscal deficit.
The low credit offtake and ample liquidity proves that
these fears are misplaced, he said.
Source :
Business
Standard,
dated
16/11/2009
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