Big Story | Govt may extend GST cess — How will it impact businesses and consumers?

At the 41st GST Council meet on August 27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave states two options to bridge the funding gap created due to economic losses caused by COVID-19.

The first option given by the GST council entails borrowings of around Rs 97,000 crore by states and the other option is to let states borrow Rs 2.35 lakh crore from the markets. If the states agree, it would effectively mean that the government will extend the period of levy of compensation cess beyond the originally envisaged five years.

In this edition of Big Story, Moneycontrol's Sakshi Batra explains how the likely extension of GST cess will have a significant impact on businesses and consumers.