Classification of the different goods and services the five rateClassification of the different goods and services the five rateIndia today is aggressively defending the "national" flavor that unites her twenty nine states & the seven union territories. For an outsider India is more diverse than Africa as a continent or EU as a union of countries. India has 18 official languages and at least another 18 more unofficial ones. Any argument with the pro-national Indian ends up in discussions about how hard the Indian Army is fighting at the Kashmir border. Kashmir, happens to be a state where a significant section of the population is keen to secede from the Indian union. India doesn't want that to happen. During the course of history there have been other states too ,who have expressed dissatisfaction with the Indian union. Last year a few students of an elite Indian university were arrested for apparently claiming: "Bharat tera tukde karenge" (India , we will rip you apart!) For an average Indian, these fellows were as bad as international terror organizations.
India exempts NRIs from quoting Aadhaar in tax returns — Although NRIs are exempted from income tax on their income abroad, they have to file tax returns for their income earned in India. The Indian government has exempted Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the requirement of quoting Aadhaar (Indian biometric ID card) number while filing income tax returns back home. Although NRIs are exempted from income tax on their income abroad, they have to file tax returns for their income earned in India. They were waiting for announcements on exemptions.
One, though GST's motto was "One country, one market, one tax", we have ended up with "One country, one market, five tax rates". All other countries that have implemented GST have had a maximum of two tax rates. But India will be the first country that will have five rates — zero, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. Multiple rates will cause confusion and increase costs of compliance for companies, negating a major benefit of the GST. Classification of the different goods and services the five rate categories — an exercise that will be taken up in May — will be a challenging exercise.
Then, while there are some issues with the new system, the movement towards GST can help increase national demand and therefore is the live in the right direction.India's tax-GDP ratio is however poor yet when compared with other nations in our stage of growth in economy.Getting more people pay taxes in lower rates is often greater than getting a couple of people pay taxes in higher rates and GST can help move us towards such a tax system.Simultaneously, we want to change our hopes.GST is only one measure of a much larger procedure.
Expats stressed as Aadhaar becomes mandatory for tax returns -Expatriates living in India would often complain about heat, food and dirt. Applying, registering and getting an Aadhaar card might just extend the list of woes with another mandatory tryst with India's famed red tape. Many expatriates would be required to obtain an Aadhaar number.
You must be logged in to post a comment.