GST Council Adopts Concept Paper Discouraging Tinkering with Rates Paper says no manufactured goods should be given outright exemption as it would hit Make in India The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will actively discourage any further tweaks in rates, following a major revamp of the indirect tax regime on Friday to help small industries and exporters. A concept paper adopted by the council says no manufactured goods should be given outright exemption as this would hinder the Make in India initiative. States should opt for direct subsidy transfers if they want to reduce tax incidence on any item. This suggests that companies looking for such breaks like Apple would not be able to get any outright tax exemptions. “The whole idea is to look at the issue of rate revision afresh... There should be no ad hocism in rate revision,“ said a government official familiar with the thinking behind the concept paper that will guide changes to tax rates from now on.The key principles i