Business
Nirmala Sitharaman: GST Reform Plans Took 18 Months To Shape
New Delhi: The recent reduction and rationalisation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs — bringing them down to two and exempting certain categories, including health and life insurance premiums — had been under discussion for nearly 18 months, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at an NDTV summit on Tuesday.
Sitharaman stressed that the reforms were not a reaction to the 50 per cent tariffs announced by former US President Donald Trump, which had sparked speculation that GST changes were aimed at boosting domestic demand to offset a potential USD 48 billion export hit.
According to the Finance Minister, deliberations on GST revisions began even before last year’s Union Budget, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded her to focus on relief for the ‘aam aadmi’. At the time, she had presented her eighth consecutive budget, which included income tax rebates for salaried taxpayers earning up to ₹12 lakh.
“It took time to prepare a worthy package of proposals for the Prime Minister,” she said, noting that she formally approached him with the GST plan only in May this year.
The next hurdle was getting states on board. A crucial GST Council meeting was scheduled for September 3–4, where several states were expected to push back over possible revenue losses and demand compensation, including a fresh ‘sin tax’. However, Sitharaman said the meeting ended in a single day with a unanimous consensus.
“To be fair to state finance ministers, they were supportive of rate rationalisation,” she said.
The Finance Minister also underlined that states have not received compensation since 2022, referring to the GST Compensation Cess. Previously, collections under this cess were redistributed to states and Union Territories to offset revenue losses from the GST regime.
“Currently, the cess is being used to repay loans taken by states and UTs during Covid,” Sitharaman explained. She added that the more sustainable solution lies in improving tax collection efficiency rather than depending on payouts from the Centre.
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Amazon is cutting about 8.5% of its workforce in the tiny European nation, or roughly 370 employees out of a total headcount of 4,370.
While Amazon described the move as part of routine restructuring, the consequences could be severe for non-EU workers. (Photo Credit: X)
When Amazon announced plans earlier this week to cut 14,000 jobs globally, a significant share of the impact fell on its technology operations in Luxembourg, a move that could put Indian and other foreign employees in a particularly difficult position.
According to a Bloomberg report, the e-commerce giant is cutting about 8.5% of its workforce in the tiny European nation, or roughly 370 employees out of a total headcount of 4,370. This marks Amazon’s largest round of layoffs in Luxembourg in nearly two decades.
While the company described the move as part of routine restructuring, the consequences could be severe for non-EU workers. Luxembourg hosts Amazon employees from countries including India, the US, Australia, Egypt and Tunisia. Under local immigration rules, foreign workers who lose their jobs typically have three months to find new employment or leave the country.
“These are adjustments that reflect business needs and local strategies,” Amazon said in a memo to staff dated December 12, adding that the severance package “goes well beyond industry benchmarks”. The Luxembourg labour ministry did not respond to Bloomberg‘s request for comment.
Prash Chandrasekhar, a member of Amazon’s employee delegation in Luxembourg, told Bloomberg that some employees are almost certain to be forced to leave the country. “I am almost sure some employees will have to leave. It’s not easy to find a job in Luxembourg, for 370 people entering the job market at the same time,” he said. Chandrasekhar added that for professionals seeking roles in big technology firms, there are limited alternatives outside Amazon in the country.
Under European Union rules, companies must consult employee representatives, and in some cases the government, before carrying out mass layoffs. Following two weeks of negotiations, Amazon reportedly reduced the number of planned job cuts in Luxembourg from 470 to 370. A portion of affected employees are expected to receive formal termination notices in February, Chandrasekhar told the agency.
Beyond the immediate human impact, the layoffs may also create friction in Amazon’s long-standing relationship with Luxembourg, which has positioned itself as a tax-friendly hub for multinational companies. With a population of about 6,80,000, the country has benefited from hosting Amazon’s European operations since 2003, and the company remains its fifth-largest employer even after the cuts.
An Amazon employee, speaking anonymously to Bloomberg, said most of the job losses are expected among software developers as the company expands its use of artificial intelligence and trims roles created during the pandemic-era hiring boom.
Trade unions, including the General Luxembourg Workers’ Organization (OGBL), have accused the government of granting Amazon and other multinationals “outsized” tax benefits. Bloomberg reported that Amazon and several foreign firms operate holding structures in Luxembourg to channel European business, using accounting practices that were ruled legal by European courts in 2023 but allow companies to minimise tax liabilities.
Public records show that Amazon EU Sarl, the Luxembourg-based holding entity, reported €70.4 billion ($82.8 billion) in EU e-commerce sales last year, nearly matched by expenses including staff costs. As a result, taxable profits amounted to just €180 million.
Despite the layoffs, political ties remain publicly cordial. In November, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden met Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy in Seattle, calling the company a “vital partner” in a LinkedIn post. Jassy responded, “Luxembourg’s been an important home for Amazon and our 4,000 teammates there. Appreciated the discussion and partnership.”
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December 19, 2025, 12:27 IST
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Peter Hoskins,Business reporterand
Lily Jamali,North America technology correspondent
TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors for the majority of its business in America, TikTok’s boss told employees on Thursday.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9% of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15% each.
Another 30.1% will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by Trump supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
In April 2024, during President Joe Biden’s administration, the US Congress passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on 20 January 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
“TikTok has become a bargaining chip in the wider US-China relationship,” said Alvin Graylin, a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“With recent softening tensions, Beijing’s sign off on the structure and algorithm licensing now looks less like capitulation and more like calibrated de-escalation, letting both capitals claim a win at home.”
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.
Oracle and Silver Lake declined to comment. The BBC has contacted MGX for comment.
The deal drew critiques from Senate Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon, who said it wouldn’t do “a thing to protect the privacy of American user”.
Under the terms, TikTok’s recommendation algorithm is set to be retrained on American user data to ensure feeds are free from outside manipulation.
“It’s unclear that it will even put TikTok’s algorithm in safer hands,” said Sen Wyden.
He opposed the 2024 law, and was among the US lawmakers who lobbied to extend the TikTok deadline in January in a bid to give Congress more time to mitigate threats from China.
Some users also expressed caution at the prospect of new investors.
Small business owner Tiffany Cianci, who has more than 300,000 followers and nearly four million likes on the platform, said she hopes the incoming investors will maintain the same user experience for entrepreneurs like her.
“I hope small business owners are protected,” Ms Cianci said.
TikTok has said that more than seven million small businesses market their products and services on TikTok in the US.
“I reserve judgement on whether or not we have saved the app for those small business,” she added.
Ms Cianci said she chose TikTok for promotion because the platform offers profit-sharing on terms that are more favourable than what competitors like Meta offer.
Over the last year, Ms Cianci has been active in organising protests in Washington and on TikTok aimed at saving the app.
Japan’s central bank has raised its main interest rate to the highest level in 30 years as the country faces a cost-of-living squeeze.
In a widely expected decision, the Bank of Japan’s policy board, led by governor Kazuo Ueda, increased its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to “around 0.75%” on Friday.
The move comes as new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is keen that inflation comes down but also needs the cost of government borrowing to be cheap.
It marks both the first time the BOJ has hiked rates since January and the first rise since both Takaichi and Ueda took up their current roles.
When a central bank raises interest rates it tends to have the effect of increasing the value of the country’s currency.
In Japan’s case, it has the potential of easing inflation as the yen’s low value versus other major currencies, like the US dollar and the euro, has pushed up the cost of imports, which in turn has helped to fuel inflation.
At the same time, higher interest rates push up government borrowing costs because when rates go up governments, like anyone else, have to pay more to borrow money.
Last year, Takaichi described the idea of a rate hike as “stupid” although she has not publicly criticised Ueda’s policies since she took office in October.
Still, Takaichi has made the fight against inflation a priority as rising costs have eroded support for her party, the LDP.
On Friday, official figures showed Japan’s inflation, excluding food and fuel, rose by 3% in November. That remains above the bank’s target rate of 2%.
But Shoki Omori, chief strategist at Mizuho in Tokyo, told the BBC that the interest rate rise will do little to ease inflation as it has already been priced in by currency markets and the yen remains relatively weak.
Most economists expect the BOJ to raise its benchmark interest rate once more next year to hit 1%.
It marks a major change in Japanese policy makers’ approach to interest rates.
“What we’re seeing is a historic shift after nearly three decades of long standing low rates in Japan,” said Julia Lee from Pacific FTSE Russell, part of the London Stock Exchange Group.
But Takaichi’s stance on monetary policy may make it harder for the bank to hike again, said Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics at Oxford Economics.
“The BoJ will need time, probably around six months, to monitor the impact of the rate hike on the real economy before it makes its final move,” he said.
The BOJ’s latest rate rise comes as other major central banks around the world are moving in the opposite direction – lowering the cost of borrowing.
On Thursday, the Bank of England cut its main interest rate to 3.75%, the lowest level since February 2023.
Last week, the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the third time this year, even as internal divisions create uncertainty about additional cuts in the coming months.
The central bank said it was lowering the target for its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points, putting it in a range of 3.50% to 3.75% – its lowest level in three years.
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