New Indian Tax

From 1 July 2017 India will have a new tax.  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a country wide tax on all goods and services – similar to VAT (but there are three bands – depending on the cost of the item).  Currently the individual states all set their own taxes – so GST will bring the whole country under one unified system.  Accommodation in hotels, guesthouses, houseboats, homestays etc will be subject to GST and all bookings taken from 1 July will include this tax. 

Taj Mahal Restoration

We have just learned that the restoration work currently being carried out on the Taj Mahal is going to take longer than expected.  The time table they are now working to is as follows:

Southern and south west façades and south-east Minaret – June to August 2017
Northern façade – August to October 2017
Western façade – October to December 2017
Wall of periphery Sheesh Mahal – November 2017 to January 2018
Four chhatris on roof – January to April 2018
Pinnacle and dome – May to November 2018