Our GST regime needs a return to factory setting

The complexity of decisions taken by the GST Council is enough to explain why we need a reset of this regime. Let's get it back in harmony with its promise of one country, one tax'

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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s latest decisions highlight just how complex this tax regime has become. Multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) with a minimum length of 4,000mm, or engine size of at least 1,500cc, or ground clearance exceeding 170mm will now be treated like sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), thus attracting a cess of 22% instead of 20%. MUVs that measure less will still attract the lower levy (applied as an extra after GST). Also, how high a vehicle’s frame rests will now be measured unladen, without passengers i.e., as opposed to laden. Whether this switch applies only in this instance or broadly for all industry matters is unclear, though. In addition, sedans have been spared this burden, no matter how they compare on these counts, so big-wheelers have been judged particularly tax-worthy. It’s a sign of just how far the idea of one simple tax across the economy, GST, has been stretched that top policy time is devoted to such tiny details.