Jaitley promises no surprises in GST rate fixation

Allaying fears of rising prices of goods and service once GST rolls out, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday promised there will be no surprise in fixing tax rates under the proposed indirect tax law.

The GST Council in its two-day meeting from May 18 is expected to finalise the fitment of rates of all commodities and services under the new GST regime aimed to roll out from July 1.

“We are now in final stages of fixing tariffs for different commodities. The formula under which it is being done has also been explained and therefore nobody is going to be taken by surprise, it is not going to be very significantly different,” Jaitley said here.

He was addressing industry chamber CII's annual meeting. Ahead of the roll out of India's biggest indirect tax reform, he also appealed to the businesses to pass on the benefit of GST to consumers.

"Profit or profiteering is not a bad word but benefits of low taxes must be passed on to cosumers at large," Jaitley said.

The GST Council has earlier zeroed in on a four-tier rate structure of 5%, 12%,18% and 28% along with a cess of a maximum of 12% to be imposed on luxury and sin goods. Jaitley also hinted at some tough measures to bringing more people under tax net. "Some tough steps are necessary to make India a tax compliant society," he said.