GST Rates Revised: What Gets Costlier? What's Cheaper?: Check Here

With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council's approval of a rate hike to correct inverted duty structures and the withdrawal of several exemptions, a number of goods and services will cost more starting on July 18. Any increase in GST rates, according to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is meant to make up for "inefficiencies" in the value chain. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council resolved to raise the tax rates on some goods and services and remove other exemptions following its 47th meeting on June 29.

Exempted Items That Will Now Attract GST

All goods, organic manure, and coir pith compost will now be subject to a 5% tax in addition to pre-packaged and labelled meat (aside from frozen), fish, curd, lassi, paneer, honey, dried leguminous vegetables, dried makhana, wheat and other cereals, wheat or meslin flour, jaggery, and puffed rice (muri).

Unpackaged, unlabeled, and unbranded products will still be exempt from the GST.

Hotel rooms: Those rooms priced at Rs 1,000 or less per day, which are not taxed at present, will attract 12 percent GST.

Cheque books: 18 percent GST will be levied on bank cheque books

Printed Maps: Hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds, including atlases, wall maps, topographical plans and globes, will attract 18 percent GST

Post office services will now be taxed. An exception, however, has been provided for postcards and inland letters, book posts, and envelopes weighing less than 10 gm.

What Will Get Costlier?

Led lights and lamps: Prices of LED lights and lamps, fixtures, and their metal printed circuit boards will surge from 12 percent to 18 percent GST.

Printing, writing, and drawing ink: These rates are also set to increase as 18 percent GST will be levied as against current 12 percent

Knives: The prices of knives along with cutting blades, paper knives, pencil sharpeners and blades, spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake-servers, etc, is also going to go up from 12 percent to 18 percent.

Machines for cleaning, sorting, or grading seeds and grain pulses, machinery used in the milling industry or for the processing of cereals, etc, pawan chakki or air-based atta chakki, and wet grinders will now attract 18 percent GST as opposed to the current 5 percent.

Besides machines used for cleaning, sorting, and grading eggs, fruit, or other agricultural produce, milking machines and dairy machinery will also cost more as their GST is being spiked from 12 percent to 18 percent.