New Delhi: The GST Council meeting on Wednesday provided a massive relief to common people by giving a nod to a dual tax structure of 5% and 18%. In the process, the council has done away with the 12% and 28% slabs, and the changes will come into effect from September 22.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing the press conference after the meeting, said, “Reforms carried out with focus on common people. This decision has focused on the complete reduction of GST for common and middle-class items.”
Essential items and the reduction of GST
The GST on essential items for the middle class has been reduced from 12% or 18% to 5%. These items include hair oil, toilet soap, soap bars, shampoos, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bicycles, tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles. It also includes food items like noodles, sausage and pasta, cornflakes, among others.
The GST reduction on wheat
FM Sitharaman informed that GST on some items has been reduced from 5% to nil, including ultra-high-temperature milk, chana and paneer, all Indian breads, including rotis and parathas, which are essential for the common people of the country.
Also, there are some items on which the GST has been reduced from 28% to 18%, including AC, TVs over 32 inches, dishwashing machines, small cars, and motorcycles equal to or less than 350 cc. The GST on agricultural goods like tractors, harvesting machines, and thrashing machines have also been reduced. Moreover, there is a reduction from 12% to 5% in bio pesticides, handicrafts, and labour-intensive sectors, marble, and granite blocks.
Also, GST on food items has been reduced from 12% or from 18 % to 5%, including namkeen, bujjiya, sauces, pasta, instant noodles, chocolates, coffee, preserved meat, cornflakes, butter, and ghee.
Massive reduction in health items
In a major boost to the general public, the GST on health items, including 33 live saving drugs and medicines, have been reduced from 12% to nil. Also, GST on medicines used to treat cancer and other rare diseases has been reduced from 5% to nil. Moreover, the long pending inverted duty structure is getting corrected for the man-made textile sector and also in the fertiliser sector. Also, there is a special rate of 40% on pan masala, cigarettes, tobacco, gutkha, and beedi.