GST was hailed as India’s biggest tax reform
GST has resulted in certain goods and services becoming costlier and some cheaper. GST was hailed as India’s biggest tax reform and India became a unified market with a single tax structure across states. For many businessmen this became difficult to comply with and certain section of the common people now has to pay more taxes.
Certain commodities however, will not be taxed at all and primary tax slabs has been made for certain items. The low rate GST is 5%, the standard rates of 12% and 18% and the high rates of 28%. Gold and jewelry would be taxed at a concessional rate of 3% and rough diamonds will attract 0.25%. Certain essential items have also been kept away from GST.
A GST calculator can be used to calculate taxes on various items. GST has certainly impacted small businesses all throughout the country. The things which got cheaper under GST are food items like unpacked foodgrains, unbranded atta, maida, besan, fresh vegetables and fruits, salt, food at small restaurants, cutlery, ketchup, sauces and pickle. Items of personal care also got cheaper like Soaps, hair oil and toothpaste.
Certain aspects of auto and travel got cheaper like Airfares for economy class travel, bikes or scooters with engine capacity below 350 cc and SUVs. Household utensils like pans and pressure cookers. Rooms at non- luxury hotels with tariffs less than Rs 7500. Footwear and Apparel also got cheaper.
On the other hand, quite a few things became more expensive as well. Food items like Packaged or branded and coffee, food at fine dining restaurants or those inside five-star hotels. Items of personal care like shampoos and deodorants. Aspects of travel like Airfare for business class and train tickets, bikes which have an engine capacity of over 350 cc. Household appliances like TVs, refrigerators, ACs, washing machine. Hotels with tariffs over Rs 7500. Services like Courier services, mobile phone tariffs, insurance premiums, banking charges, broadband services.
Some things continue to remain free under GST like Salt, eggs, milk, buttermilk, unpackaged curd, natural honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, flour, besan, bread, prasad, lassi, unpacked paneer, fresh meat, fish, chicken, palmyra jaggery, hulled cereal grains, unbranded and unpackaged tea and coffee, vegetable oil, children’s picture, drawing or colouring books,. Gandhi topi, khadi yarn, coconut, coir fibre, unspun jute fibres, Indian national flag, Puja items, prasad, contraceptives, hotels and lodges with tariff below Rs 1,000, education and healthcare services. Bindi, sindoor, bangles, handloom, stamps, judicial papers, printed books, newspapers, unbranded dried leguminous vegetables, silkworm laying, raw silk, silk waste, uncarded or uncombed wool also remain to be free.
5% taxes would be levied on items like cashew nut, raisin, biogas, insulin, agarbatti, kites, coir mats, matting and floor covering, postage or revenue stamps, hearing aids, fish fillet, apparel below Rs 1,000, packaged food items, footwear below Rs 500, cream, skimmed milk powder, branded paneer etc.
12% taxes would be imposed on items like diagnostic kits and reagents, exercise books and notebooks, glasses for corrective spectacles, spoons, forks, fish knives, tongs, fixed speed diesel engines, two-way radio (walkie-talkie) used by defence, police and paramilitary forces etc., corrective spectacles, intraocular lens, playing cards, chess board, carom board and other board games, like ludo, etc., apparel above Rs 1,000 etc.
18% taxes would be imposed on items like Aluminium foil, curry paste; mayonnaise and salad dressings; mixed condiments and mixed seasonings, kajal pencil sticks, dental wax, school bags (other than leather or composition leather), precast concrete pipes etc.
28% taxes would be imposed on items like Alcohol, bidis, cigarettes, cigars, chewing gum, molasses, chocolate not containing cocoa, waffles and wafers coated with chocolate, pan masala, aerated water, paint, deodorants, shaving creams, after shave, hair shampoo, dye, sunscreen, wallpaper etc.
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