After GST, Some Items That Could Become Cheaper

The government has released a list of household items where tax liabilities will be reduced once GST comes into effect, compared with the present combined indirect tax rates. For a majority of supplies of goods, the tax incidence approved by the GST Council is much lower than the present combined indirect tax rates levied by the Centre and States, the finance ministry said in a press release dated June 15. The new indirect tax regime, GST, will subsume many local and central taxes including excise duty, service tax, VAT and octroi. The government is set to roll out GST or goods and services tax from July 1.

Touted as the biggest tax reform since Independence, the GST regime will impact prices of a multitude of goods and services. The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising of his state counterparts, has already categorized over 1,200 goods and 500 services in tax slabs of zero, 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.

Here is a list of supplies where the GST incidence is lower than the present combined indirect tax rates:

Milk powder Curd, lassi, butter milk put up in unit container Unbranded natural honey Ultra high temperature (UHT) milk Dairy spreads Cheese Cashew nut Raisin Spices Tea Wheat Rice Flour Soyabean oil Groundnut oil Palm oil Sunflower oil Coconut oil Mustard Oil Sunflower oil Other vegetable edible oils Sugar Palmyra jaggery Sugar confectionery Pasta, spaghetti, macaroni, noodles Fruit and vegetable items and other food products Pickle, Murabba, Chutney Sweetmeats Ketchup & Sauces Mustard Sauce Toppings, spreads and sauces Instant Food Mixes Other pulses bari (mungodi) Mineral water Ice and snow Cement Coal Kerosene PDS (Public Distribution System) LPG domestic Insulin Agarbatti Tooth powder

Hair oil Toothpaste Kajal (other than kajal pencil sticks) Soap X-ray films for medical use Diagnostic kits and reagents Plastic tarpaulin School bags Exercise books and note books Kites Children's picture, drawing or colouring books Silk fabrics Woollen fabrics Cotton fabrics not containing any other textile material Other vegetable yarn fabrics Manmade filament/fibre fabrics Readymade garments and made up articles of textiles of sale value not exceeding Rs. 1000 per piece Readymade garments and made up articles of textiles of sale value exceeding Rs. 1000 per piece Footwear of RSP upto Rs. 500 per pair Other footwear Helmet Headgear and parts thereof Fly ash bricks and fly ash blocks Glasses for corrective spectacles and flint buttons LPG stove Aluminium foils Spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, fish knives, tongs Fixed speed diesel engines of power not exceeding 15HP Tractor rear tyres and tractor rear tyre tubes Weighing machinery (other than electric and electronic) Printers (other than multi-function printers) Recorder CCTV Sewing machine Staplers Car for physically handicapped person Baby carriages Spectacles lenses Intraocular lens Spectacles, corrective Braille watches Medical furniture LED Kerosene pressure lantern Bamboo furniture Sports goods other than articles and equipment for general physical exercise 'Phul jharoo'