Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the discussion about increasing GST rates to increase revenue is everywhere except in my office. She said this before the Goods and Services Tax Council (GST) meeting. She was answering questions asked to discuss the increase in GST rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent to meet the reduction in revenue. It is said that due to the reduction in revenue, the payment made to compensate the loss due to the implementation of the new indirect tax system is being affected.
Sitharaman said that this discussion is everywhere except in my office. However, she did not deny the increase in GST rates and said that her ministry has yet to look into it. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and Chief Economic Advisor KR Subramanian were present at the press conference.
On onion prices, the Finance Minister said that now in many places its prices have started coming down. Not completely, but slowly decreasing. The Group of Ministers constituted in this matter is holding a review meeting every one or two days.
Key points
- Till November, Rs 33,000 crore income tax refunds were issued. There was a refund of Rs 36,000 crore in 2018-19 – Revenue Secretary
- If you add both direct tax and indirect tax, the total refund issued this year is about Rs 2.2 lakh crore – Union Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey
- Tax refunds worth Rs 1.57 lakh crore have been made so far this year. Last year it was Rs 1.23 lakh crore – Revenue Secretary
- 66% of the capital expenditure of Rs. 3.38 lakh crore set out in the budget has been used to accelerate the economy – Krishnamurthy Subramanian
- Till 27 November, more than eight lakh loans worth Rs 70 thousand crore have been allocated on the interest related to repo rate – Subramanian
- The government has taken several steps to improve the economy and increase investment. Its effect is visible. Investment in the country is increasing – Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
- All-phase funding in realty sector made available with infusion of capital in public sector banks – Subramanian
- Rs 7,657 crore approved under Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme and Rs 4.47 lakh crore allocated for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies to boost retail lending – Subramanian
- Ministry of Railways and Roads incurred capital expenditure of Rs 2.46 lakh crore till 31 December – Subramanian
- Capital infusion of Rs 60,314 crore in public sector banks. Also, banks disbursed Rs 2.2 lakh crore to companies and Rs 72,985 crore to MSMEs – Subramanian
Tax refund of Rs 1.57 lakh crore released till November
The Income Tax Department has issued a tax refund of Rs 1.57 lakh crore till November in the current financial year. Due to this, the department had issued a tax refund of Rs 1.23 lakh crore for the entire period of the last financial year. Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey gave this information.
He said that these measures will help in reviving the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the six-year low. Pandey said that tax refund cases have increased by 17 percent to 2.16 crore. Tax refunds were 27.2 percent higher by money.
He informed that Rs 38,988 crore has been released as Integrated GST Refund so far in the current financial year. This figure was Rs 56,057 crore in the same period of the previous financial year.