GST Slabs Shuffle That Has Taken Place in the Recent Past

Call it the populist move or the desire to make it a uniform tax, the GST slabs have been constantly shuffled around by the government which sits on a pre-decided date to fine tune the indirect tax structure of the country. Normally, the shuffle happens by taking out the goods and services from higher slabs to the lower ones. This results in lowering the cost of the products and saving quite a few bucks for the customers. So, spare some time with us to look at the shuffle of GST slabs in the recent past.

December Meet Sees Only 28 Items Remaining in the Top Slab of 28%

The GST Council sat on December 22, 2018, and decided to take out 6 items from 28% to lower slabs. With that, only 28 items are there in 28% slab, including a few luxury, automobile and cement items. The government has given the new year gift by slashing the GST tax rates for pilgrims on their flights. Now, the GST rates applicable are 5% and 12% for economy and business classes, respectively, for pilgrims. Paying heeds to the growing requests from the film fraternity to reduce ticket prices, the GST council announced to remove movie tickets from the highest slab of 28% to 18% and 12%. Movie tickets priced below ₹100 and above ₹100 would come with a GST tax rate of 12% and 18%, respectively.

Apart from that, the council also decided to remove items such as power bank of lithium-ion batteries, carriage accessories for disabled, video games and small sport related items, monitors, television screens and tyres from the top slab to the immediate low of 18%.

GST Slabs of Around 191 Items Lowered

A few months back, the GST Council gave a monsoon gift to the business enterprises and customers by lowering the rates of as many as 191 items. By doing so, the number of items in the top tax bracket fell to 34. Televisions, washing machines, refrigerator, which were earlier levied at 28% GST, are now available at lower rates. This has certainly made these essential home appliances cheaper. To top it all is the exemption of sanitary napkins from the purview of GST.

GST Council Contemplates Replacement of 12% and 18% Slabs with a Standard 15.50% Rate

The council looks to replace the 12% and 18% GST Tax Rate Slabs with a standard 15.50% rate. This will keep the costs down while also creating sufficient revenue for the country. Maybe in the next meet, it can happen and much more to the delight of the consumers.

How Would the Shuffle of GST Slabs Impact the Economy?

The shuffle would impact the economy positively by lowering the consumer price index-based inflation, which has already come down to 2.18% in December 2018, falling for three consecutive months. The decline in the inflation would prompt the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reduce policy rates, which would lower the lending rates across banks. Lower rates would lessen the interest repayment burden and help borrowers enjoy their credit journey to the fullest.