GST or Goods and Services Tax came into existence on July 1, 2017. GST is a multi-layered and destination-based tax that will be levied on every purchase. The implementation of the tax replaced the multiple cascading taxes charged by the central and the state government. The tax is levied on every transaction in the supply of goods and services, barring certain exempted items such as petroleum products. Under GST, goods and services are taxed under tax slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. Recently, the GST Council announced a cut in the rates of over 200 items, as well as a cut in the GST rate for all restaurants, barring those in starred hotels, to 5 per cent. While the Council reduced the GST rates of 178 items, mostly consumer items of daily use, from the highest tax slab of 28 per cent to 18 per cent, only 50 luxury items now remain in the 28 per cent slab. It must be noted that the government has also approved the creation of the National Anti-profiteering Authority to ensure that businesses pass on the benefits of GST to consumers.
India has the highest tax rate out of all the countries that have implemented GST.
Take a look GST rates around the world:
#1 France
Eurail
France has GST at 2.01 %, 5.5%, 10%, and 20 % since 1954.
#2 New Zealand
newzealandnz
New Zealand’s GST was 10% since 1986 and in 2010, it increased to 15%.
#3 Australia
Gapyear
The taxes were introduced in 2000 at 10%.
#4 Singapore
Youtube
GST was implemented in 1994 at 3% and in 2007, it increased to 7%.
#5 Malaysia
says
The GST was introduced in 2015 at 6%.
#6 Canada
CANVISAS
The rate is 5 % for most of the products and some products have 15% GST.