Customers will have to pay extra starting on July 18, 2022, for various commodities, including furniture, lodging, and banking services, when the increased Good and Services Tax (GST) rates take effect on that date. At the 47th Council Meet, held last month in Chandigarh and presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the GST rates were increased on several commodities.
While the GST council planned to abolish some tax exemptions and adjust the rates for others, several exemptions were removed. Also, the council voted to eliminate duty inversion on commodities whose input taxes were more than output taxes.
What you need to pay more for is as follows:
- Pre-packaged, labelled foods like atta, paneer, and curd are subject to a 5% GST.
- Maps, charts, and hotel rooms with daily rates up to Rs 1,000 are subject to a 12.5% GST.
- Hospital rooms, except ICU, with rent over Rs 5,000 are subject to a 5% GST.
- Tetra packs, checks in book or lose form, 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 all subject to an 18% GST.
- GST on solar water heaters is now 12% instead of the previous 5%
- Roads, bridges, railroads, metro, effluent treatment plants, crematorium construction contracts, and others by 18 per cent
- 18 per cent GST on RBI, Irda, and Sebi services and renting of a residential dwelling to business entities
- 12 per cent GST on bio-medical waste treatment facilities
Here’s what all will get cheaper:
- Twelve per cent tax against the previous 18 per cent for renting trucks, goods transportation where the fuel cost is included, and ostomy appliances.
- Five per cent GST on ostomy appliances and the transport of goods and persons by ropeways.
- Only economy class flights are excluded from the GST on flights to and from the north-eastern states and Bagdogra. Electric vehicles are subject to 5% GST, whether or not they are equipped with a battery pack.