As many as 23 items that include TVs, Cinema tickets, and pilgrims’ air travel will now become cheaper following the GST council in its 31st meeting on 22nd December decided to reduce the prevailing GST on them. Six items in the 28 percent slab of GST were released to be placed in lower slabs.
GST on parts and accessories for the carriages for disabled persons has also been considered for rate cut from the present 28 percent to 5 percent.
With this fresh revision of GST, the 28 percent bracket of it is now left with 28 items that comprises the luxury and sin items besides cement and 14 items of automobile parts and overall 97.7 percent of the total 1211 items will now be in the bracket of 18 percent or below.
The Council however has decided to leave Cement and automobile parts remain in the 28 percent category considering cut in these high revenue items to be too steep at the moment.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitely , after the meeting, said “ Revenue from cement is Rs13000 crore and revenue from auto parts is Rs20,000crore. So total impact of cutting from 28 percent to 18 percent is Rs33000 crore. The council felt that it is too steep at the moment.”
The new rate will be effective from 1st january 2019.
GST rate reduction on goods which were attracting GST rate of 28% :
28% to 18%
- Pulleys, transmission shafts and cranks, gear boxes etc., falling under HS Code 8483
- Monitors and TVs of upto screen size of 32 inches
- Re-treaded or used pneumatic tyres of rubber;
- Power banks of lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are already at 18%. This will bring parity in GST rate of power bank and lithium ion battery.
- Digital cameras and video camera recorders
- Video game consoles and other games and sports requisites falling under HS code 9504.
- 28% to 5%
- Parts and accessories for the carriages for disabled persons
- GST rate reduction on other goods,-
- 18% to 12%
- Cork roughly squared or debagged
- Articles of natural cork
- Agglomerated cork
- 18% to 5%
- Marble rubble
- 12% to 5%
- Natural cork
- Walking Stick
- Fly ash Blocks
- 12% to Nil:
- Music Books
- 5% to Nil
- Vegetables, (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen, branded and put in a unit container
- Vegetable provisionally preserved (for example by sulphur dioxide gas, in brine, in sulphur water or in other preservative solutions), but unsuitable in that state for immediate consumption.
- GST on solar power generating plant and other renewable energy plants
- GST rate of 5% rate has been prescribed on renewable energy devices & parts for their manufacture (bio gas plant/solar power based devices, solar power generating system (SGPS) etc) . Other goods or services used in these plants attract applicable GST.
- Certain disputes have arisen regarding GST rates where specified goods attracting 5% GST are supplied along with services of construction etc and other goods for solar power plant.
- To resolve the dispute the Council has recommended that in all such cases, the 70% of the gross value shall be deemed as the value of supply of said goods attracting 5% rate and the remaining portion (30%) of the aggregate value of such EPC contract shall be deemed as the value of supply of taxable service attracting standard GST rate.
Reduction in GST rates/exemptions on services:
- GST rate on cinema tickets above Rs. 100 shall be reduced from 28% to 18% and on cinema tickets upto Rs. 100 from 18% to 12%.
- GST rate on third party insurance premium of goods carrying vehicles shall be reduced from 18% to 12%
- Services supplied by banks to Basic Saving Bank Deposit (BSBD) account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) shall be exempted.
- Air travel of pilgrims by non-scheduled/charter operations, for religious pilgrimage facilitated by the Government of India under bilateral arrangements shall attract the same rate of GST as applicable to similar flights in Economy class (i.e. 5% with ITC of input services).
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