India needs simple GST structure with lower rates: adviser

Dated 15th December, 2016

India should aspire for a simple structure for its proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) with lower rates, the chief economic adviser at the ministry of finance said, amid deadlock between the central and the state governments over the draft of new law.

India faces the risk of missing a self-imposed deadline to launch the GST from April 2017 after a meeting of federal and state officials ended last Sunday without fixing who would administer the tax.

Arvind Subramanian, who headed a panel on the proposed tax structure, said on Thursday GST should also include real estate, land sales and electricity as well.

(This article is published in Reuters on 15 December, 2016)