Foreword

Ahead of the possible implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the government appointed a Committee with the following terms of reference:

(a) The Committee may recommend possible tax rates under GST that would be consistent with the present level of revenue collection of Centre and States.

(b) While recommending GST rates the Committee may develop a dynamic model to assess the impact of the following parameters on the tax rates viz. expected levels of growth of economy, different levels of compliance and broadening of tax base under GST.

(c) Analyse the sector-wise and State-wise impact of GST on the economy.

(d) The Committee may invite experts and stakeholders for consultations as it deems fit.

The composition of the Committee is the following:

Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance (Chairman)

Dr. W R Reddy, Principal Secretary, Taxes, Government of Kerala

Dr. P D Vaghela, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Gujarat Shri K Rajaraman, Principal Secretary and Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Tamil Nadu (since transferred from the post)

Shri Ritvik Pandey, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Karnataka

Shri Udai Singh Kumawat, Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue

Shri Alok Shukla, Joint Secretary, Tax Research Unit, Central Board of Excise and Customs

Shri Upender Gupta, Commissioner, GST, Department of Revenue

Ms. Aarti Saxena, Deputy Secretary, State Taxes, Department of Revenue

The Committee met several times and had wide ranging consultations with experts in the field. The experts included Arbind Modi and G D Lohani from the Department of Revenue, Kavita Rao from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Neelkanth Mishra from Credit Suisse, Satya Poddar from Ernst and Young, Rinku Murgai, Fredrico Gil Sander and Urmila Chatterjee from the World Bank, and Mario Mansour and David Wentworth from the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. I would like place on record my deep appreciation for the consultations and material provided by the Committee members and other experts. These insights have served as valuable inputs for the Report. The comments from the members of the Committee have been appropriately reflected in the Report.

I would also like to thank Aakanksha Arora, Antony Cyriac, Narendra Jena, Kapil Patidar, Pradyut Kumar Pyne, and Arvinder S. Sachdeva of Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs for their efforts in the preparation of the Report.

(Arvind Subramanian)
Chief Economic Adviser &
Chairman of the Committee