Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may hike service tax rate to 16-18 percent from the current 15 percent in the Budget, due on Wednesday,asaprecursortothe GoodsandServicesTax(GST)rollout.
The move,that will make flying,eating out,phone bills and a host of other services expensive, would be an attempt to take the rates closer to the proposed tax slabs for GST.
GST,which will subsume central and state levies like excise duty, service tax and VAT, is scheduled to be rolled outfrom July 1.
The tax slabs decided for the GST are 5,12,18and28 percent and taking service tax closer to one of the slabs is a logical move in the Budget,tax experts said.
Tax experts say,Jaitley,who had in his previous budgethiked service tax rate by 0.5 percent to 15 percent,may raise the levy by at least one percent age point to 16 percent.
Some others feel there could be different service tax rates with a lower 12 percent for basic services and a higher 18 percent for the rest.
Business Standard New Delhi,30th January 2017
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