No ‘pure’ GST on petrol & diesel

A peak tax rate of 28 per cent plus states levying some amount of local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel is likely to be the tax structure when the two auto fuels are covered under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, a top government official said.

The peak GST rate plus VAT will be equal to the present tax incidence, which is made up of excise duty, levied by the central government, and VAT charged by the states.

But before the two fuels are put under GST, the Centre has to decide if it is willing to let go of the ~200 billion of input tax credit it currently pockets by keeping petrol, diesel, natural gas, jet fuel, and crude oil out of the GST regime that came into force from July 1, 2017, the official said. “There is no pure GST on petrol and diesel anywhere in the world and so in India too it will have to be a combination of GST and VAT,” said the official, who is closely involved with the GST implementation.

The timing of including petro products in GST will be a political call which the Centre and states have to take collectively, he said.

The Centre currently levies a total of ~19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and ~15.33 per litre on diesel. On top of this, states levy VAT — the lowest being in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where a 6 per cent sales tax is charged on both the fuels. Mumbai has the highest VAT of 39.12 per cent on petrol, while Telangana levies highest VAT of 26 per cent on diesel. Delhi charges a VAT of 27 per cent on petrol and 17.24 per cent on diesel. The total tax incidence on petrol comes to 45-50 per cent and on diesel, it is 35-40 per cent.The official said that under GST the total incidence of taxation on a particular goods or a service has been kept at the same level as the sum total of central and state levies existing pre-July 1, 2017. This was done by fitting them into one of the four GST tax slabs of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent. For petrol and diesel, the total incidence of present taxation is already beyond the peak rate and if the tax rate was to be kept at just 28 per cent, it would result in a big loss of revenue to both the Centre and states, he said.

“The Centre does not have the money to compensate states for loss of revenue and so the solution is to have a peak rate of tax plus allowing states to levy some amount of VAT keeping in mind that the overall incidence should not exceed the present levels,” he said.

GST has been spoken of as a panacea for high fuel prices but the structure in works would ensure rates remain almost at same levels unless the Centre and states decide to levy pure GST of 28 per cent and not go for an additional VAT or cess. After hitting all-time high of ~78.43 a litre for petrol and ~69.31 for diesel on May 29, rates have marginally fallen during the subsequent days on softening in international oil prices and rupee strengthening against the US dollar. Petrol costs ~76.27 a litre and diesel ~67.78 in Delhi.

More importantly, GST being an ad valorem levy — charged as a percentage on exfactory price — would have a cascading impact on retail prices whenever refinery gate prices are increased because of a rise benchmark international oil prices. The inverse would also be true. Union Minister Arun Jaitley had in a blog post on Monday alluded to states earning more through ad valorem VAT when oil prices rise. The central excise is a fixed levy and does not change with changes in prices.