Some critical issues are pending before the GST Council for a final decision. Comments have been made in the public space with regard to two of these issues. Even though the final decision with regard to these two issues is yet to be taken by the GST Council, the rationale behind the proposals placed before the Council needs to be explained.

Positive : GST will help create a single unified market across India and allow free movement and supply of goods in every part of the country. It will also eliminate the cascading effect of taxes on customers which will bring efficiency in product costs.

Negative : The tax collection at source (TCS) guidelines in the GST regime will increase administration, documentation workload for ecommerce firms and push up costs.

Real estate sector was heavily taxed and we welcome a single stable 12% GST rate, inclusive of the value of land and with full Input Tax Credits. We are of the view that the actual tax impact under GST would match or would be lower than the existing multiple indirect taxes on the sector. There are a few things where we are still awaiting clarity like whether affordable housing will remain out of the ambit of GST or not, as is the case at present for implication of service tax, or whether there will be any abatement for homebuyers.

GST will turn India into one common market, leading to greater ease of doing business and big savings in logistics costs from companies across all sectors. Some companies will gain more as the GST rate will be lower than the current tax rates they pay, others will lose as the rate will be higher than the present effective rate. While the rate of GST is yet to be decided, industry observers have assumed an 18% rate recommended by a government panel in making their impact calculations. ET looks at the likely impact across sectors.

Handset prices likely to come down/even out across states. Manufacturers are also likely to pass on to consumers cost benefits they will get from consolidating their warehouses and efficiently managing inventory. For handset makers, GST will bring in ease of doing business as they may no longer need to set up state specific entities and transfer stocks to them and invest heavily into logistics of creating warehouses in each state across the country.