GST Rate Hike: These are the Items and Services That Will Become More Expensive

The GST rate increase is the result of significant retail and wholesale inflation. This implies that everything from food to electronics will suffer a double punch of inflation. "The GST Council approved proposals for rate rationalization made by several committees formed by it during a two-day meeting here (Chandigarh), resulting in tax modifications," Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the GST Council meeting.

Notably, the GST rate increase will go into effect on July 18.

Here is the complete list of commodities and services that will become more expensive as a result of the GST rate increase:

Goods and Services Subject to an 18% GST

• Ink for printing, writing, and drawing.

• Knives, cutting blades, paper knives, pencil sharpeners, blades, spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, and drawing and tracing tools.

• Checkbooks from the bank.

• Road, bridge, railway, metro, effluent treatment plants, and crematorium construction contracts.

• Maps and charts, including atlases, wall maps, topographical plans, and globes

• LED Lamps & Lights

• Pumps powered by electricity

• Machines for cleaning, sorting, and grading seed, grain, and pulses

• Equipment used in the milling business. 

• Machines used in the processing of cereals such as Pawan chakki and atta chakki. 

• Wet grinders.

• Egg grading, cleaning, and sorting machines.

• Employment opportunities include the manufacture and processing of leather products such as footwear, as well as brick manufacturing.

Goods and Services Subject to a 12% GST

• Solar water heaters 

• Hotel rooms costing less than Rs 1000 a day

• Genuine leather

Goods and Services Subject to a 5% GST

• Wheat flour, papad, paneer, curd, and buttermilk, meat, fish, lassi, honey, dried leguminous vegetables, dry makhana, wheat, cereals, and puffed rice (muri)

• Hospital rooms costing Rs 5000 or more per day (excluding ICU) Ostomy devices.

• Tax on products and persons transported by ropeways.

• Truck rental, goods transportation with gasoline included, and electric vehicles, whether or not equipped with a battery pack.

• GST-Exempt Goods and Services

• Items that are unpacked, unlabeled, and unbranded.

• Air transport of passengers from the northeastern states and Bagdogra.

• Intrastate supply via e-commerce platforms. Suppliers would not be required to register for GST if their annual revenue is less than Rs 40 lakh for commodities and Rs 20 lakh for services, respectively.