GST to have 4 slabs: Asim Dasgupta

KOLKATA: The Goods and Services Tax, the new tax regime, would have four slabs and and they are likely to be unveiled within 15 days, Chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers Asim Dasgupta said today.

"It (GST) will have four slabs. I hope the rates will be released in the next 15 days," Dasgupta said.

Among the GST tax slabs, it would be zero for exempted items, one standard rate for majority of the goods and services and another having a moderate rate, he said.

Precious metals are likely to continue to attract one per cent. This has to be done to bring uniformity in tax compliance for the business community and to facilitate them to maintain only a single book of accounts for both state GST and Central GST tax payment, Dasgupta said.

The implementation of GST is scheduled for April 1, 2010. However, there are doubts at various quarters whether the new tax regime would come into effect at the targetted date beacuse differences of opinion over the rates among states and the items to be included under GST.

The Empowered Committee of state finance ministers had released a discussion paper on GST on November 10. It proposes to replace central levies like excise duty, service tax, special additional duty, countervailing duty by GST.