PTI kolkata

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that while the government has moved to rationalise Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs, the country is "not yet" prepared for a single-rate GST system, though it remains a possibility in the future. At an event in Kolkata, she underlined that the four-rate GST structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent was not arbitrarily fixed, but arrived at through a detailed exercise of aligning diverse state-level taxes with the nearest slabs.

"When a review of GST was undertaken, one of the needs identified was that they (GST Council members) didn't want four rates. However, the question of whether they were ready to get into one rate situation as yet was answered with not yet. Maybe sometime in future," Sitharaman said.

The finance minister described the ongoing reform process as part of "new generation GST reforms", focused on making the system simpler and fairer, especially for the poor and middle class. FM tells India Inc not hesitate to invest more, expand capacities

Sitharaman on Thursday said the government has delivered policies as per the expectation of industry, and it's now time for India Inc to invest more and expand capacities. Speaking at the IFQM Symposium, Sitharaman also asked the industry to partner with the government in skilling youth and also to have a continuous engagement with the government throughout the year, and not just before the Budget.

To a question by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on what the industry should be doing now, Sitharaman said PM Modi has never relented on reforms, nor has he ignored the wishlist of the industry.

The government has been moving as per the industry's expectations, she said, adding the government has delivered on ease of doing business, tax reforms, opening up FDI, and framing policies conducive for the industry.

‘GST rate cuts affect Centre and states equally’

Sitharaman on Thursday made it clear that the Centre was not considering any compensation to states for potential revenue loss arising from the latest GST rate cuts, stressing that the impact will be shared "equally" and given the devolution of taxes, while the Centre's share will be even smaller.

Speaking at a discussion on GST in Kolkata, Sitharaman said that during the GST Council meeting, several states, particularly those governed by opposition parties, raised concerns over the proposal to reduce rates, and asked what would happen if they led to revenue losses and how that gap could be filled. Sitharaman said that in response, she had explained that there is "no donor-donee relationship" within the GST Council.