GST Council Srinagar meet: Sugar, tea, coffee and edible oil in 5% tax bracket

Cost for sugar, tea, coffee and edible oil will be taxed in the 5 percent tax bracket while that of hair oil, toothpaste, soaps at 18 percent, government said on Thursday after the first day of GST (Goods and services tax) Council’s Srinagar meeting.

The meeting will continue tomorrow to decide the fitment of various products and services into different tax slabs. Out of 1,211 items, GST rates on all barring six have been decided, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.

File image of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley. PTI

According to revenue secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, 14 percent of the items will fall under 5 percent tax slab, 17 percent items under 12 percent slab, 43 percent of the items will fall under 18 percent tax slab and 19 percent items under the 28 percent tax slab.

Milk and cereals will be among the exempted category, Adhia said. Tomorrow, GST Council will discuss rates on services and may meet one more time if tax for all items not decided by then, said finance minister, Arun Jaitley.

“Hope to finalise list of exempted items tomorrow; will also discuss rate of tax on gold and bidi,” Jaitely said.

According to a PTI report, the complete details of the rates decided are likely to be available once the meeting gets over tomorrow. Various state finance ministers separately sought exemption on items like silk yarn, puja material and handicraft items.

Jaitley was of the view that there should be minimum exemptions under the GST and should be provided for only if it is essential, a government official said.

Before the start of the meeting, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac made a case for 5 percent tax on gold under the GST regime instead of 1 percent being demanded by some quarters as he felt that the precious metal is not an essential commodity.

Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh sought zero levy on 'puja samagri' instead of the proposed 18 percent. A few others are keen on only two rates for service tax -- 12 percent and 18 percent.

The GST will be a national sales tax that will be levied on consumption of goods or use of services.

It will replace 16 current levies -- seven central taxes like excise duty and service tax and nine state taxes like VAT and entertainment tax -- thereby creating India as one market with one tax rate.

With the GST, India will join select league of nations with a goods and service tax.

With PTI inputs