India: GST Bill

सरदार पटेल ने जिस तरह भारतका राजनीतिक एकीकरण किया और उनको बिस्मार्क कहा जाता है, उसी तरह अरुण जेटली भारत का आर्थिक एकीकरण करना चाहते हैं इस GST Bill के रास्ते। तो देरी किस बात की? काँग्रेस कहती है ये बिल तो पहले हम लाए। आप लाए तो पास करने में और आसानी होनी चाहिए। दोनों मिल के क्रेडिट ले लो। लेकिन पास तो करो।

What is the GST Bill? What does it mean to you and me? The Good and Services tax in the biggest indirect tax reform since 1947 and it has potential to lead the economic integration of India.

This will be levied on manufacture sale and consumption of goods and services. ...... the GST bill will lead to the economic integration of India. ..... The main function of the GST is to transform India into a uniform market by breaking the current fiscal barrier between states. Thus the GST will facilitate a uniform tax levied on goods and services across the country. ..... Currently, the indirect tax system in India is complicated with overlapping taxes levied by the Centre and the State separately. ..... two components- the Central GST and the State GST. They will both have separate powers to legislate and administer their respective taxes. Thus equally empowering both. ....... Taxes such as excise duty, service, central sales tax, VAT ( value added tax), entry tax or octroi will all be subsumed by the GST under a single umbrella. ..... With passing of the GST bill, we can expect a climate of improved tax compliance...... Thus, the GST will basically have only three kinds of taxes, Central, State and another called the integrated GST to tackle inter-state transactions........ The first mention of the bill was in 2009 when the previous UPA government opened a discussion on it. ...... the current challenge facing the bill is that it needs two-third majority of both houses and 50 percent of the state assemblies will have to ratify it. ..... the GST will be instrumental in helping the GDP of India to grow by 2 percent. ......

The GST also offers a solution to the multinationals as it breaks down the indirect tax structure into one single tax payable by the companies.

Ten things to know about the GST Bill

The Bill seeks to shift the restriction on States for taxing the sale or purchase of goods to the supply of goods or services. ...... The GST Council will be the body that decides which taxes levied by the Centre, States and local bodies will go into the GST; which goods and services will be subjected to GST; and the basis and the rates at which GST will be applied. ......... The Centre will levy an additional one per cent tax on the supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade, which will go to the States for two years or till when the GST Council decides. ..... Parliament can decide on compensating States for up to a five-year period if States incur losses by implementation of GST.

GST will be cleared in 15 minutes if govt agrees to our terms, says Rahul
At the core of the dispute between the ruling party and the principal Opposition party is not just the demand for a constitutional cap on the GST median rate, as it is called, but also two other conditions put forward by the Congress.

“We don’t want a GST Bill where there is no cap on taxes. We want a limitation on the maximum tax people can be charged with.” ....... The Congress has demanded withdrawal of an additional one per cent tax on inter-state movement of goods, which has been proposed to provide comfort to manufacturing states that fear a loss of revenue. The party has also demanded a dispute resolution panel headed by a Supreme Court judge. ....... Stating that the GST legislation was conceptualised by his party, Rahul said: “For seven years, Jaitley didn’t allow it to pass. The current Prime Minister, when he was chief minister, too, didn’t allow it to pass. The BJP blocked everything. It has never been the strategy of the Congress to block Parliament.” .......

“This government doesn’t believe in a conversation”

, he said, adding that a compromise on GST was possible. “It is sitting on the table. But the government is not taking it,’ he said. He said that work is yet to begin on the necessary infrastructure that can make GST work. - ........ The Congress has hit back, pointing out that some of its concerns were reflected in the report of Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on GST.

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The Stupid, Stupid Bush Tax Cuts

Image via WikipediaThe Bush tax cuts are the reason the Great Recession happened. The continuation of the same is the reason we are not fully out of the recession yet. And now I have Warren Buffett seconding that opinion.

New York Times: Stop Coddling the Super-Rich: While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors. ........ These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places. ...... Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent. ....... If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot. ....... Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot. ........ I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation. ........ In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent. ........ 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.) ....... I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get. ....... for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

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• Stop coddling the super rich by Warren Buffett (nytimes.com)
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