‘Among the petroleum items, crude oil could be brought under GST first’: CBIC Chairman
Higher duty on gold was not only fueling smuggling but also causing market distortion and revenue loss, as it led to imports in non-bullion forms under various free trade agreements (FTAs) where they qualified for lower or even nil rates, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said in an interview with Soumyarendra Barik and Ravi Dutta Mishra.
Agarwal stated that tariff rationalisation is undertaken with an objective to promote domestic manufacturing and boost exports and that the roadmap to bring petroleum products under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime could start with crude oil as it would help integrate the entire petroleum product supply chain. Edited Excerpts:
What was the reason for a sharper than expected gold duty reduction?
The duty rate on gold has been reduced after it was temporarily increased in 2022 due to specific circumstances. It was a temporary move. Once those circumstances changed, the rate was lowered again. We noticed that there was a tendency to bring gold in non-bullion form under different FTAs where those forms were entitled for concessional rates and even nil rate. This prompted certain import restrictions too. Besides, the expected revenue increase did not materialise, and smuggling rose, fuelling illegal activities.
