Skip to main content

Chocolate mithais to attract 5% GST, Centre clarifies

By

Sandesh, with or without chocolate, will be taxed at 5 per cent, the government clarified on Thursday along with the goods and services tax (GST) rates for other items, including rakhis, idlidosa batter and kulfi. However, ambiguity persisted over whether the tax for plastic furniture would be 28 per cent as furniture or 18 per cent as plastic items.
The sharp jump in tax on car leasing is also expected to be taken up in the GST Council meeting on Saturday.
“Sandesh, whether or not containing chocolate, will attract 5 per cent GST,” the government clarified on Thursday.
The clarification comes amid reports that sweet shops have discontinued chocolate barfis and chocolate sandesh. The GST rate on chocolates is 28 per cent Indian sweets are at 5 per cent.
Although milk is exempt in the khoya, or milk, 5 per cent GST.
“Sweet shops in Kolkata were in panic over different GST rates based on the types of sweets and ingredients.
Now the government has clarified that the GST rate on all Indian sweets is 5 per cent,” said Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer of ClearTax.
The GST was implemented on July 1 and subsumed most indirect taxes such as excise duty, service tax and valueadded tax.
The government also clarified that kulfi —the Indian frozen dessert —would attract 18 per cent GST, like icecream.
Besides, idlidosa batter would attract 18 per cent GST under the food mixes category, it said.
There would be no GST on regular rakhis but fancy bracelets would be taxed according to their material, the government said days ahead of Raksha Bandhan.
“Rakhi, which is in the form of kalava (raksha sutra) will attract nil GST, but any other rakhi would be classified as per its constituent material,” the clarification said.Rubber bands to tie hair will attract the highest GST rate of 28 per cent.
Any prefabricated building, including portable and mobile toilets, will attract 18 per cent GST. Solar panels and modules will attract 5 per cent tax, but their mounting structure made of iron, steel or aluminum will be taxed at 18 per cent.
“We hope for clarity by the GST Council soon.
Plastic chair manufacturers are charging 18 per cent GST, ideally these should be classified under furniture,” said MS Mani of Deloitte.
The tax burden on car leasing firms has gone up to 43 per cent, includinga15 per cent compensation cess, from the earlier incidence of 13-14 per cent.
“There are many options before the government to address the car leasing issue.
Either the rate itself can be reduced for existing leases or refund of Central GST and compensation cess paid can be granted,” said Pratik Jain of PwC.
Besides, multipurpose printers, with fax and photocopy, have been put in the 28 per cent category, against 18 per cent for printers.
“Clarity is needed for many items such as movie halls.
Local bodies are allowed to levy their own tax, thus bringing the total tax to 58 per cent in states like Tamil Nadu.
There is still no clarification regarding various state tax holidays and benefits enjoyed by many industries,” said Gupta.
The Business standard, New Delhi, 04th August 2017

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

By
  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm
Post a Comment
Read more

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

By
  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep
Post a Comment
Read more

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

By
  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and
Post a Comment
Read more