New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- India's GST reform is welcome, but prospective car buyers can be pardoned for wondering if the revised rate structure for vehicles will remain almost as complex as it was. The add-on cess applicable to fancier sets of wheels has been dropped, to their relief, but four-wheelers remain split into two slabs based on length and engine capacity.

As part of an exercise to keep GST as progressive as possible, with the rich bearing a heavier burden, cars longer than 4 metres with engines larger than 1,200cc using any petrol (and 1,500cc using diesel) will qualify for the new luxury slab of 40% tax, while those below these thresholds bear 18%.

With the cess gone, all these will be taxed less, but this would also reduce the ...