One Year Of GST: When Over 200 Items Became Affordable

Soon after the much-awaited indirect tax reform legislation Goods And Services Tax (GST) was rolled out on July 1 last year, several stakeholders, from tax payers to common citizens, raised their eyebrows, and even expressed outrage for prohibitively high rates of some of the items especially the ones that were put in the 28 percent tax bracket. The GST was rolled out with five different tax slabs: zero percent, 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent. Though GST was appreciated as a one-stop solution to all indirect tax related woes and the problem of spate of state taxes and levies, but it was condemned for keeping nearly 250 items in the highest tax bracket, which is 28 percent.

Nearly four months after the GST was rolled out, the 23rd GST Council meet that took place in Guwahati on November 10 slashed the tax rates from 28 percent to the lower slabs on over 200 items. The highest tax slab was retained only on 50 'sinful and luxury items' while nearly 177 items were rationalised from the highest tax slab to 18 percent. One of the most lauded moves during the 23rd GST Council meet was to bring restaurant bills under the 5 percent bracket from the earlier 18 percent. Though a lot of items turned cheaper, and affordable, after the GST was rolled out, there are, however, calls to bring other items such as petrol, diesel under the indirect tax regime in a bid to make them cheaper amid crude price hikes that have lately taken the fuel prices in domestic market to unprecedented levels in May this year. 

These Items saw price cuts during the 23rd GST meeting.  Five Things To Know

1. The items on which GST was slashed from 28 percent to 18 percent included wire, cables, insulated conductors, electrical insulators, electrical plugs, switches, sockets, fuses, relays, electrical connectors, electrical boards, panels, consoles, cabinets etc for electric control or distribution, particle/fibre boards and ply wood, article of wood, wooden frame, paving block, furniture, mattress, bedding and similar furnishing, trunk, suitcase, vanity cases, brief cases, travelling bags and other hand bags, cases, detergents, washing and cleaning preparations, liquid or cream for washing the skin, shampoos; Hair cream, Hair dyes (natural, herbal or synthetic) and similar other goods; henna powder or paste, not mixed with any other ingredient; pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, perfumes and toilet waters, beauty or make-up preparations, fans, pumps, compressors, lamp and light fitting, primary cell and primary batteries, sanitary ware and parts thereof of all kind, articles of plastic, floor covering, baths, shower, sinks, washbasins, seats, sanitary ware of plastic, slabs of marbles and granite, goods of marble and granite such as tiles, ceramic tiles of all kinds of miscellaneous articles such as vacuum flasks, lighters and several other things.

2. The highest tax bracket items (28 percent) were also brought into the fold of 12 percent. These items included wet grinders consisting of stone as grinder, tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles.

3. Rationalisation on some other items made the goods cheaper. For instance the goods that were earlier in the tax slab of 18 percent were brought in the fold of 12 percent and 5 percent.

The goods that came from 18 percent to 12 percent included condensed milk, Refined sugar and sugar cubes, pasta, curry paste, mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed seasoning diabetic food, medicinal grade oxygen, printing ink, among other things.

4. The items that were brought from 18 percent to five percent included puffed rice chikki, peanut chikki, sesame chikki, revdi, tilrevdi, khaza, kazuali, groundnut sweets gatta, kuliya, flour of potatoes put up in unit container bearing a brand name Chutney powder.

5. Not only this, the goods were also brought from 12 percent to 5 percent including desiccated coconut, narrow woven fabric including cotton newar [with no refund of unutilised input tax credit], idli, dosa batter, finished leather, chamois and composition leather.

The items on which the 5 percent GST rate became nil included guar meal, hop cone (other than grounded, powdered or in pellet form), certain dried vegetables such as sweet potatoes, maniac unworked coconut shell, fish frozen or dried (not put up in unit container bearing a brand name) Khandsari sugar.