Finance
Customers will pay more for a variety of commodities, including furniture, lodging, and banking services, beginning Monday, as the new Good and Services Tax (GST) rates take effect on July 18.
The GST rates on a number of commodities were raised at the 47th Council Meet, which was held last month in Chandigarh and presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
While the GST council intended to eliminate some tax exemptions and raise rates on others, several exemptions were actually eliminated. In addition, the council voted to end duty inversion on commodities with higher input taxes than output taxes.
Here’s what all will get costly from Monday:
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Pre-packaged, labelled foods like atta, paneer, and curd are subject to a 5% GST.
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12% GST on maps, charts, and hotel rooms with daily rates up to Rs 1,000
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5% GST on hospital rooms—aside from the ICU—with rent exceeding Rs 5,000
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Tetra packs and checks in book or loose form are subject to a 18 percent GST
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LED lamps, ink, knives, blades, pencil sharpeners, spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, printing, writing, and drawing ink, fixtures, and their metal printed circuit boards are subject to a 5.18 percent GST.
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GST on solar water heaters is now 12% instead of the previous 5%
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18% increase in the work contract for highways, bridges, railroads, metro, effluent treatment facilities, and other projects
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RBI, Irda, and Sebi services as well as the leasing of a residential dwelling to business entities are subject to an 18% GST.
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Facilities that process biomedical waste are liable to a 12% GST.
Here’s what all will get cheaper:
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1. Taxes on ostomy devices and the use of ropeways for the transportation of products and people will be reduced from 12% to up to 5 percent.
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2. Passengers travelling by flying in economy class to and from northeastern states and Bagdogra shall not be subject to the GST.
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3. The GST will be reduced from 18% to 12% for the rental of trucks and freight carriages (where the cost of fuel is included).
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Electric vehicles would be eligible for the five percent reduced GST rate.
