GST relief for consumers: These 178 items became cheaper from Nov 15

From shampoo and detergents to fans, wires and cable, here is the list of items that became cheaper from Wednesday after the GST Council moved 178 items from the 28% GST bracket to 18%.

GST News :After the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council at its 23rd meeting on November 10 recommended a major relief in rates on certain goods, a set of 178 items of common use were moved from the highest tax bracket of 28 per cent to 18 per cent with effect from November 15.

With the rate reduction coming into effect, consumers get the GST relief & benefit in the form of a corresponding reduction in the price on these goods.

According to the government, the 178 items that have become cheaper for consumers can be classified as under:

* Wires, 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 plywood; articles of wood, wooden frame, paving block

* Furniture, mattress, bedding and similar furnishing

* Trunk, suitcase, vanity cases, briefcases, travelling bags and other handbags, 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;

Click to Read → Full List of GST rate

From chocolates to cutlery: 200 items cheaper as GST cuts notified

The government formally notified the lower rates, including on chocolates, waffles, furniture, wristwatches, cutlery, suitcases, ceramic tiles and articles of cement.

GST News : Eating out and a little over 200 products of mass consumption, including detergents and ceiling fans, became cheaper from Wednesday with the lower goods and services tax (GST) rates taking effect.

The finance ministry has told citizens to remember this while purchasing these. The government formally notified the lower rates, including on chocolates, waffles, furniture, wristwatches, cutlery, suitcases, ceramic tiles and articles of cement.

The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had on Friday in Guwahati decided to cut rates on these items to provide relief to consumers and businesses, amid an economic slowdown. The Council pruned the list of items in the top 28 per cent GST slab to 50, from the earlier 228.

Another 176 had the rate cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent — chewing gum, chocolates, coffee, custard powder, marble and granite, dental hygiene products, polishes and creams, sanitary ware, leather clothing, artificial fur, wigs, cookers, stoves, after-shave deodorant, detergent and washing power, razors and blades, cutlery, water heaters, batteries, goggles, wristwatches and mattresses, among others.

The tax on wet grinders, tanks and armoured vehicles was reduced to 12 per cent from the peak rate. And, a uniform five per cent tax prescribed for all restaurants, both air-conditioned and not.

Broadly, in the highest tax slab are what are termed luxury goods and ‘sin’ goods — pan masala, aerated water, beverages, cigars and cigarettes, tobacco products, cement, paints, perfumes, air conditioners, dish washing machines, washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, cars, two-wheelers, aircraft and yachts.

Rate on six items were reduced from 18 per cent to five per cent, on eight items from 12 per cent to five per cent, and on six items from five per cent to nil.

Click here to Know → Full List of GST rate

5% GST at restaurants from today: Why your food bill may still not change

AC restaurants and non-AC restaurants will charge 5% GST, down from 18% and 12% respectively

GST News :  Eating out at restaurants will get cheaper as GST council, which lowered the tax rate to a uniform five per cent from 12 per cent on non-AC restaurants and 18 per cent on air-conditioned ones comes into effect from Wednesday.

Currently, air-conditioned restaurants levy a charge of 18 per cent on food bill and non-AC restaurants levy 12 per cent tax.

As the new rate comes into effect today, here’s how it will impact you:

The Downside

• Menu prices: According to a report by Scroll, restaurant owners have been mulling a price rise on their menu. This is because of the high rent they have to pay at expensive locations, loss of input tax credit and competition from big eateries. Several restaurant owners are not convinced that a lower tax will make up for the loss of input tax.
• Input tax credit: Many restaurant owners have indicated that the move may drive prices up, courtesy withdrawall of input tax credit. Under input tax credit, businesses can claim an offset on the tax paid on inputs against the tax paid to the government. But, now the Council has done away with the tax credit on food items used as raw material.
• According to Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India President Garish Oberoi the input tax credit accounts for three to four per cent of a restaurant’s profit, the report added.

The Upside

• You won’t need to burn a hole in your pocket in order to dine at fancy AC restaurants. From 18 per cent tax to five per cent, you will be saving 13 percentage points tax on your food bill.
• Similarly, at non-AC restaurants, you will be saving 7 percentage points tax on your bill as the same has been slashed from 12 per cent to five per cent.
• Want to just chill and order food at home instead? No worries as delivery apps such as Zomato and Swiggy will be delivering food from restaurants that will charge you the revised tax rates i.e five per cent.

Click here to Know → GST on Restaurant Bills

Last date for filing GSTR-2, 3 extended by a month

GSTR-2 is the most important return for GST compliance since the availability of input tax credit depends on it

The government on Monday once again extended the deadline for filing the goods and services tax (GST) returns for purchases and input-output transactions for July.

The last date for filing purchase return, or GSTR-2, was extended to November 30, from October 31. That of input-output transactions, or GSTR-3, was put off to December 11, from November 10.

“To facilitate trade, the last date for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for July 2017 has been extended to November 30 and December 11, respectively,” a government tweet said.

Archit Gupta, chief executive officer, ClearTax, said, “The earlier last date for filing GSTR-2 coincided with the deadline for submission of audited income tax returns and as such was putting a strain on some taxpayers.”.

GSTR-2 is the most important return for GST compliance since the availability of input tax credit depends on it.

M S Mani of Deloitte said that the extension will enable many more taxpayers to file returns. “The challenges faced by some of the taxpayers in dealing with mismatches in GSTR-2 would hopefully get resolved in November,” he added.

Click to know more → GST Deadline

Tax evasion: Real estate coming under GST? Council to decide at Nov meet

Aadhaar could be made mandatory for buying international air tickets, cars

 

 

Real estate is often seen as one of the worst sectors in so far as tax evasion is concerned. To address this issue, the government might soon move to bring it within the ambit of goods and services tax (GST).

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indicated this on Thursday while speaking at Harvard University in the US. The GST Council, at its November meeting in Guwahati, would consider covering the sector under the new indirect tax regime, Jaitley said.

While delivering a lecture on tax reforms in the country, he called the taxation system in India one of the least efficient in the world, with a very small tax base. He also hinted at making Aadhaar mandatory for buying a car or international air tickets in the future, taking a cue from the recent Supreme Court judgement.

The GST was rolled out on July 1, replacing a large number of indirect taxes with one unified tax of five rates. Petroleum, real estate, and alcohol were kept out of its ambit.



“The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST,” Jaitley said.

The stamp duty, which is outside the GST, has complicated the tax structure for real estate. A lot of states had opposed the inclusion of the stamp duty in the GST, as it was a source of revenue for them.
“Some states want; some do not. There are two views. Therefore, by discussion, we would try to reach one view,” he said.

A 12 per cent GST is levied on construction of a complex, building, or civil structure intended for sale, wholly or partly. However, land and other immovable property have been exempted from the GST. If real estate is brought under the GST, the final tax would be almost negligible, Jaitley added.

Read the Full Article → Real Estate under GST

Looking to buy a home? Ready-to-move-in apartments to cost more despite GST

Normally, ready properties are priced 20-30 per cent higher than those under construction

 

 

Though ready-to-move-in apartments have been kept out of the Goods and Services Tax's (GST's) ambit, they will continue to cost more than those under construction.

Normally, ready properties are priced 20-30 per cent higher than those under construction.
"Ready properties always cost more. Earlier, too, there was no service tax on ready properties but developers always charged more premium on them," said Sandeep Runwal, director at Runwal group, a Mumbai-based developer.

Amit Bhagat, chief executive officer at ASK Property Investment Advisors, said that since buyers have to pay GST they have to take a call whether they will make their contribution upfront and buy ready apartments or buy an under-construction apartment and make a staggered payment over the next five years.

Under-construction properties carry a tax rate of 12 per cent under GST.

"Ready apartments are not affordable for first-time buyers and they always prefer to go for staggered payments given their rising income levels, age and so on," Bhagat said.

He said that depending on the price of the product, the GST burden will increase on the end-consumer if the property is priced above Rs 6,000 per sq ft... read more...

GST impact: Manufacturing key winner, telecom likely to be worse off

The realisation of a common indirect tax is critical for the semblance of a common Indian market

 

 

The implementation of GST could very well be a step in this direction, in untangling the complicated web of the indirect tax base in India. However, one may add here that, the imposition of the GST (from July) is a minor step in the direction of reducing the incidence of indirect taxes in relation to the overall tax burden.

 

The probable impact of GST?

It may be difficult to realistically depict a quantifiable impact of GST across various sectors unless a specific GST tax rate is known from the government’s end, which analysts earlier estimated to be somewhere around 17% or 18%.

Considering that the discussion across the board on the GST tax rate started with rate discussions of 12% and 18%; the four slab rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with identified de-merit goods subject to levy of cess over and above peak rate of 28% was a dampener for the industry, as argued here.

The newly designed multiple rate structure is derived from the fact that current effective indirect taxes (both centre and state) over certain bands are maintained for revenue neutrality and linked to above rate slabs.

The likely winners from the imposition of the GST as a centralised indirect valued added tax, will be from the manufacturing segment, including the automobile manufacturers, the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) segment, the retail sector (provided consumer demand picks up) and the cement sector. Income Tax.

One of the key losers could be the telecom sector, with the rise in GST tax rate, unless the VAT and CENVAT simultaneously see a marginal drop in their rates too. The sector is already plagued with serious problems pertaining to data volumes and slow bandwidth penetration across the country.

Tax reforms like the GST is history in the making and the final passing of the GST bill (now in its final stages) will be termed as one of India’s biggest legislative success...  read more...

GST not being charged twice over on credit card payments: Govt busts 7 myths

Please do not recirculate such message without checking it with authority," Adhia said.

 

 

Two days into the GST regime, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia today took to Twitter to bust "seven myths" that were doing the rounds about the new tax regime.

Adhia, the architect behind the country's largest tax reform, sought to dispel concerns that if a person makes payment of utility bills by credit cards, the he/she will be paying GST twice.

"This is completely untrue. Please do not recirculate such message without checking it with authority," Adhia said.

India ushered in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime on the intervening night of June 30 and July 1.

A four-tier tax slab -- 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent -- has been decided with essential items like salt, unpacked food grains, healthcare services being kept zero rated.



People have been posting in social media pictures of receipts issued in grocery stores or eateries showing tax deductions as GST, instead of VAT/Service tax earlier.

Busting the myth that GST rates are higher than VAT, Adhia said, "It appears higher because excise duty and other taxes which were invisible earlier are now subsumed in GST and so visible now." Income Tax

He reiterated that businesses can continue to do business under GST with provisional ID number and need not wait for Goods and Services Taxpayer identification number (GSTIN).

"Provisional ID will be your final GSTIN number. Start business," Adhia said.

He said that businesses need not generate all invoices on computer or internet alone. "Invoices can be generated manually also."..... read more..... 

The Rs 35,000-cr business of making India GST-ready

Some of the players in the GST race are Payworld, Dell, Tally Solutions

 

 

The past few days have been ‘taxing’ for Pawan Kumar Gupta, in a race against time to become compliant with the requirement for the coming national goods and services tax (GST).

A hardware and bathroom fittings supplier, he’s been zeroing on GST-ready commercial computers and hiring three new accountants, adept with the new intricacies, among other things. A checklist in hand, Gupta is making notes on the things that have to be done before July 1, when GST becomes a reality. Till now, he has spent around Rs 2 lakh in equipping himself for the transition.

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data from 2013 say there are around 57.7 million registered small and medium traders. Beside, at least 15 million retailers and hundreds of thousands of offline and online ventures would all come under the new tax net. The money they’d spend for this over the next two years would be over Rs 35,000 crore, say experts.

 

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In the past eight months, the huge spending potential has created a new sector, of GST enablers. These include providers of computer hardware and software. And, legal, technical and personnel support and services. Every small entity is investing its money to comply with the new regime.

Unlike the value added tax (VAT), say experts, GST is fully computerised, with many layers only professional accountants can understand. So, the demand for computers and skilled personnel will rise.

 

Competition is already on between hardware companies. “We are eyeing the lion’s share of the market and are prepared with our solutions. We have an outreach programme for traders. We believe we would see immediate returns for the next six months to one year,” said Pankaj Harjai, director of the small and medium business at (read more...)

 

 

 

 

GST Council reduces tax rates of 66 items

Council had received representations for 133 items; GST on movie tickets below Rs 100 cut to 18%

 

 

Tax rates on certain kitchen items like pickles and mustard sauce, as well as movie tickets costing up to Rs 100 have been lowered as the Centre and states today reduced levies on 66 items.

Movie tickets costing Rs 100 and below will now attract 18% tax, as against 28% proposed earlier, while those above Rs 100 will continue to attract 28% GST.

Kitchen use items like pickles, mustard sauce and morabba will attract 12% GST, as against 18% proposed earlier. Also, tax rates on cashew nuts have been cut to 5% from 12%.

 

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The GST Council also decided that traders, manufacturers and restaurant owners with turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh can opt for a composition scheme and pay taxes at the rate of 1, 2, and 5% respectively.

The Council also lowered GST rates on children's drawing books to nil from 12%. Computer printers will attract 18% tax as against 28% earlier.

GST on insulin and agarbatti has also been lowered to 5%, while school bags will attract tax of 18%.

Tax rate on kajal has been lowered to 18% from 28%.

 

 

"GST Council has reduced tax rates of 66 items as against representations received for 133 items," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here after the 16th meeting of the GST Council.

Next meeting of the Council will be on June 18, when it will take up lottery taxes and e-way bill.

On the issue of review of GST rate on hybrid cars, it was decided that the council will take it up after considering states' comments on a detailed paper issued on the matter earlier.