BENGALURU, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVIII 119, 32 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 80,567.69 ▲ 409.81 NIFTY: 24,715.05 ▲ 135.45 NIKKEI 225: 41,938.89 ▼ 371.60 HANG SENG: 25,343.43 ▼ 153.12 `/$: 88.07 ▲ 0.09 `/€: 102.67 ▼ 0.07 BRENT: $67.84 ▼ $1.30 GOLD: `1,05,279 ▲ `1,292 2-tier GSTregime from Sept 22 ● BIGCONSUMPTIONBOOSTER ASTAXCUTONMOSTITEMS ● ANNUALREVENUEIMPLICATION SEENAT`48,000CRORE PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, September 3 THE GOODSAND ServicesTax (GST) Council on Wednesday approvedamajorrestructuring of the indirect tax by pruning the number of main slabs to two—5%and18%—andintroducing a special 40% rate for singoods,amovethatwilllower thetaxincidenceonawidesection of businesses, and benefit the end-consumer in at least a fraction of the cases. The new tax rates will take effect from September 22, well in time to boost sales in the festive season. The reforms have resolved classification-relatedissues,and beencarriedoutintheinterests of the common man, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman saidatalate-nightpressconference.The changes are not limited to rate rationalisation, but are comprehensive, covering process reforms,she added. The tax relief will cover fast REFORMING GST-III Revenue shortfall, but for how long? The last in a three-part series looks at how tax experts and industry executives think the reformed GST and compliance procedures must look like. ■ P18 ● 40%RATEFORSINGOODS;NO DECISIONONCOMPENSATION NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FINANCE MINISTER The reforms have resolved classificationrelated issues and have been carried out in the interest of the common people Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the media after the 56th GST Council meeting, in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI »INSIDE« OPPOSITION-RULED STATES SEEK REVENUE PROTECTION PAGE 3 moving consumer goods (FMCG), including food items, mostwhitegoods,smallcarsand bikes, as well as life and health insurance policies bought by individuals.Somekeyitemslike coal, apparel priced above a threshold and e-gaming have been moved to higher slabs, to mitigatetherevenuehit. Revenueimplicationswould be around `47,700 crore on an annualisedbasis,revenuesecretaryArvindShrivastavasaid,but added that buoyancy to occur from the reforms, and compliance improvement would correct this rathersoon. The 12% and 28% rates have been abolished. The compensation cess will be scrapped by October. Whileithasbeendecidedin principlethatthetaxincidence on a clutch of sin goods (tobacco products and aerated drinks) will remain at the currentlevel,amechanismforthis will be formulated later.These items will continue to attract the current tax rate of 28%, along with the applicable cess, till the cess is removed. WhilestatesruledbyOpposition parties demanded that the compensation cess be continued, the Centre hasn’t agreed to this, sources said. By October, the cess would have raised the required funds for repayingtheloanstakenbythe Centre to make up for the shortfall in the kittyin the first five years of GST, when states enjoyed guaranteed revenue growth of 14% per annum. Continued on Page 5 JaneStreetmoves Noplanstolower Services PMI hits SATagainstSebi Indiatariffs:Trump 15-year high JANE STREET FILED an appeal onWednesdayagainsttheSebi, seeking to compel it to release documents the US high-frequencytradinggiantsaysarepertinentto rebutallegationsofmarketmanipulation, accordingtoacasedocumentreviewedby Reuters. The case has been filed in the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), the first point of appeal against regulatory orders. The regulator had on July 4 temporarilybarredJaneStreetfromtradingin the local securities market on allegations thatitmanipulatedIndia’sindexes,inone of the strongest actions it has taken against a foreign investor. ■ PAGE 6 INDIA KILLS THE US with tariffs and the country has now offered “no tariffs” to America,US President Donald Trump has said,reportsPTI.“Theyhavetariffsagainst us.China,which kills us with tariffs.India kills us with tariffs. Brazil kills us” with tariffs, he said in a telephone interview during a radioshow.EarlierattheWhite House,whenaskedwhetherhe isconsideringtakingawaysome of the tariffs imposed on India, the US president said “no”, but added that “We get along with India verywell”. ■ PAGE 2 INDIA’S SERVICES ECONOMY registereditssharpestgrowthin 15 years,with the HSBC India ServicesPMIjumpingto62.9in August compared to 60.5 a month ago, reports Manu Kaushik. The increase in PMI has been led by the substantial improvement in demand,which pushed thegrowthofneworders.Atthesametime, the rise in international sales was thirdstrongest since the series started in September 2014.Aiding the rise in total sales was a pick-up in growth of new export orders. Panel members signalled greater demand from clients in Asia,Europe,West Asia and the US,as perPMI. ■ PAGE 2 BENGALURU