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

Over 20 lakh biz due to file final GST returns in 6 days

The final GSTR-3, matching GSTR-1 and 2, is to be filed by November 10

 

 

As the deadline for filing the final GST returns for the first month of GST nears, the Sushil Modi-led Group of Ministers has asked the IT backbone provider GSTN to send reminder text messages to 20 lakh businesses which are yet to submit the tax forms.

In its second meeting, the Group of Ministers (GoM) asked the GST-Network to brace for the rush of last-minute filers.

The last date for filing of final sales returns for July in GSTR-1 form is October 10, while the date for uploading of purchase returns in GSTR-2 is October 31.

The final GSTR-3, matching GSTR-1 and 2, is to be GST filing by November 10.

"So far 33 lakh businesses have filed GSTR-1 for July, while 53 lakh had filed the initial GSTR-3B returns.
So 20 lakh more businesses have to file in the next six days," GoM Chairman and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said.

"We appeal to people to file the returns on time. Infosys has prepared a list of businesses who are yet to file returns. GSTN will be sending out mobile messages to these 20 lakh businesses reminding them to file returns," he said.

Besides, the GoM has also asked Infosys, which has prepared the back-end of the GST Network portal, to be prepared to handle the load that would come for GSTR-2 filing between October 11 to 31.

The GST Council in its meeting on October 6would be apprised of the deliberations of the GoM and the improvement in... Read Full Article

One nation, one tax: Nearly 3 million GST returns filed in August

Almost half came on final day; Network chief says system stood up to huge test and all glitches would be soon resolved

 

 

As many as 2.97 million assessees have filed the summary input-output return under the new goods and services tax (GST) for the month of August (‘GSTR 3B’), much less than the 4.6 million that came for the month of July.

As many as 46 per cent of filers — 1.37 million — submitted Income tax return on Wednesday, the deadline for doing so.

However, the July returns had risen after an extension of five to eight days was given to assessees, depending on whether they wanted to claim input tax credit for pre-GST stocks or not. The GST Network (GSTN), the entity handling the information technology backbone for the new structure, is hopeful that return filing would equal the tally of July.

→ Income Tax Filing ←  → Income Tax efiling ←

Even if the same number of filers are there for the month of August as in July, proportionately it would be much less. This is so because there were only 5.95 million registrations under the GST in July, excluding those opting for the composition scheme. Now, a little over nine million businesses have registered under the GST. Of this, around one million was for the composition scheme; these may file quarterly returns.

Taxes to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore were collected in the maiden month of the roll-out. The central GST (CGST) and state GST (SGST) laws mandate an interest levy at 18 per cent for delayed payment of tax. And, Rs 100 a day will be levied for... Read Full Article