GST Council cuts rates on 17 items and 6 services from 28% GST

The council also decided to create a Centralized Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling in cases of conflicting decisions by two or more State Appellate

•  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has lowered GST on 17 items and six categories of services during its 31st meeting, leaving only one common use item — cement — in the 28% bracket.
• Six items, such as monitors and TVs up to 32 inches, digital cameras and video game consoles, were shifted from the tax slab of 28 per cent to 18 per cent.
• The parts and accessories for carriages for people with disabilities was moved from 28 per cent to 5 per cent slab.
•  The retreaded tires, power banks, digital cameras, videogame consoles were decided to be from 28% to 18%.
•  The GST rate on cinema tickets above Rs. 100 was cut from 28% to 18% and on tickets up to Rs. 100 from 18% to 12%.

Highlights Theme of GST cuts by GST Council

•  28 per cent slab is restricted to only luxury and sin goods, apart from auto parts and cement as tax rates on which could not be cut due to high revenue implication.
•  The GST Council also removed four items from 18 per cent slab. Out of these four, three were moved to the 12 per cent slab while one was shifted to 5 per cent.
•  Services supplied by banks to customers holding basic saving bank deposit (BSBD) accounts under financial inclusion scheme Jan Dhan will be exempted from GST.
•  All the changes on these items and services will have a revenue implication of Rs. 900 crore.
• The move on GST rates will lead to an annual revenue loss of Rs. 5,500 crore

Creation of Centralized Single appellate panel

•  At present each State has an Advance Ruling Authority (ARAs) that can issue a ruling on any issue pertaining to GST rates and their applicability. These different appellate panels deliver conflicting judgments.
• The GST Council has decided to create a Centralized appellate panel that will provide a common ruling in the cases.
• The Centralized Appellate Authority would aid in resolving the worries of taxpayers present pan-India in cases of varied rulings in different states.