GST: Household items from grocery to stationery, health expenses & travel to get costlier from 18 July

July 17: Pre-packaged and labelled food items like curd, lassi and buttermilk will get costlier from July 18 as they will attract 5% GST. Jaggery, khandsari sugar, puffed rice will no longer be exempt from GST. Kitchen utensils like knives, spoons, forks, and stationery items like pencil sharpeners, maps, globes and electrical appliances such as LED lights and fixtures will also get costlier.

Household items from grocery to stationery, health expenses and travel are set to turn dearer as higher goods and services tax rates comes into effect from July 18. Items which were earlier exempt have been brought under GST. This includes a 5% rate on pre-packed and labelled food items and grains. After the 47th GST Council meet last month, the government decided to raise rates on a number of items and services.

Here are the GST tax changes the come into effect:

Groceries: Pre-packaged dairy products such as lassi, curd, cheese, and buttermilk, and items like wheat flour, other grains, honey, papad, cereals, meat and fish (excluding frozen items), and jaggery will not enjoy exemption from the GST anymore. Earlier, only branded retail items attracted the GST. Now this has been revised to include all pre-packed, pre-labelled items at the lowest slab of 5%.

Tetra packs used as aseptic packaging options for milk, juices, and other edible liquids for retailers will be levied a higher GST of 18%. The government also clarified that all forms of mango including pulp, but excluding sliced or dried, will attract 12% GST. Raw or fresh mangoes will continue to be exempted.

Kitchen Utensils: The removal of inverted duty where the GST on raw materials is higher than the finished goods has also been reviewed. Kitchen utensils like cutting blades, paper knives, spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers and cake-servers will now attract a 18% GST against 12% earlier.

Stationery: Stationery items like pencil sharpeners, blades, drawing and marking out instruments have also been corrected of inverted duty structure and will attract an 18% GST against 12% earlier. Items like maps and hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds, including atlases, wall maps, topographical plans, and printed globes, that were earlier exempted will attract a 12% GST.

Electrical appliances: The GST on electrical appliances such as LED lamps, lights and fixture, their metal printed circuits board has been raised from 12% to18%. Tax rates on solar water heater and systems have been increased from 5% to 12%.

Healthcare: Hospital room rent (excluding ICU) that exceeds Rs 5,000 a day for one patient will be liable to 5% without input tax credit. But healthcare  supplies used by hospitals and orthopedic appliances such as splints and other fracture appliances, artificial parts of the body, appliances that are worn or carried or implanted in the body to compensate for a defect or disability and intraocular lens will attract a lower GST rate of 5% against 12% earlier.

Travel and Recreation: Air travel to and from the northeastern states and Bagdogra was exempted for all classes of flight. Now, that will be restricted to only economy class passengers. Hotel accommodation up to Rs 1,000 a day will be taxed at 12%. Cable transport through ropeways has seen a reduction from 18% to 5%, without the option for claiming input tax credit. Training and coaching classes for recreational activities pertaining to arts and culture or sports when offered by an individual, however, will remain tax-exempt.

LED Lights, Lamps: The prices of LED Lights, fixtures, LED Lamps are set to see a price hike as the GST council has recommended a correction in the inverted duty structure from 12 per cent to 18 per cent.

Pumps and Machines: The GST Power driven pumps primarily designed for handling water such as centrifugal pumps, deep tube-well turbine pumps, submersible pumps, Bicycle pumps have been increased from 12 per cent to 18 per cent. Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading, seed, grain pulses; Machinery used in milling industry or for the working of cereals etc, pawan chakki that is air-based atta chakki, wet grinder will also attract GST rates of 18 per cent as opposed to 12 per cent earlier.

With inputs from bqprime.com