On Saturday, GST Council had announced few major changes in the overall GST Structure.
More than 80 items have now become cheaper, as in the top bracket of 28%, only 35 items remain.
Removal of GST from sanitary pads, and zero GST on rakhi are some of the prominent announcements.
Here are the complete details:
28% GST No More On These Items
17 major white goods have been exempted from 28% GST, and reduced to 18% GST bracket: Washing machine, Refrigerators, TV, Video games, Vacuum cleaners, Trailers, Juicer mixer, Grinders, Shavers & Hair driers, water cooler, water heaters, Lithium iron batteries, electric iron. Note here, and 18% GST will be applied to all TVs which till 68 cms or 27 inch in size.
Besides GST on paints, wall putty and Varnish have also been reduced to 18% from 28%.
GST on all leather items and scents, toilet spray have been reduced to 18% from 28%.
Special purpose vehicles, work truck, trailers will now carry GST of 18%, instead of 28%. This means transportation cost can come down in some months.
Major GST Cuts In These Items
Sanitary napkins were charges at 12% GST earlier. Now, there shall be no GST on this item. This was a demand since long time, to remove GST on sanitary napkins, which has now been approved.
Common use footwars till Rs 1000 shall be now taxed at 5%
Ethanol oil for oil companies will be now charged at 5%, instead of 18% earlier.
There shall be no GST on Rakhee.
Marbles, stone and wood deitie now completely exempted from GST
Handicraft items, bamboo flooring will be now taxed at 12% GST, which was 18% earlier.
Similarly, GST on handbags, jewellery box, wooden box for paintings, artware of glass, stone endeavour, ornamental framed mirrors, handmade lamps etc reduced to 12%, from 18% earlier.
Imported urea will now be taxed at just 5%, instead of 12% earlier.
GST Filing Made Easy
At the same time, GST filings for businesses has also been made easy.
Businesses with turnover of less than Rs 5 crore will now have to only do quaterly filings, instead of monthly filings. However, tax shall be charged monthly.
It is estimated that 93% of small businesses will get benefited by this massive change.
As the same time, exemption limit for small businesses in states: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Himalaya, Sikkim have now been increased to Rs 20 lakh, from Rs 10 lakh.
And, finally, very soon, RFID will be introduced which will have GSTN embedded. This will make the lives of truck drivers easier, as they won’t be harassed at every toll. The RFIDs will have complete information about the tax filed, and tax expected.
We will keep you updated as more details come in.