The claim of tax on school books is false, school books are tax free

News Claim: In an infographic going viral on social media, it is being claimed that India has become the first country to impose a tax on school books. The users are pointing to Narendra Modi, for this change

Viral message on WhatsApp today & other Social Media claims:

स्कूल की किताबों पर टैक्स लगाने वाला पहला देश बना भारत Worried faceWorried face

अनपढ़ रहेगा इंडिया तभी तो भक्त बनेगा इंडिया Zipper-mouth faceZipper-mouth face

शिक्षित नेतृत्व के साथ बदलाव ही समय की मांग है

वाह मोदी जी वाह अब तो बच्चों से स्कूल जाने का टेक्स्ट लेना बाकी है स्कूल की किताबों पर टैक्स लगाने वाला पहला देश बना भारत

अनपढ़ रहेगा इंडिया तभी तो भक्त बनेगा इंडिया।
— piyush malpani Congress 9636769735 (@MalpaniPiyush) August 27, 2021

स्कूल की किताबों पर टैक्स लगाने वाला पहला देश बना भारत...

अनपढ़ रहेगा इंडिया तभी तो भक्त बनेगा इंडिया..

स्कूल की किताबों पर टैक्स लगाने वाला पहला देश बना भारत अनपढ़ रहेगा इंडिया तभी तो भक्त बनेगा इंडिया @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @INCDelhi @Ch_AnilKumarINC @LaljiDesaiG @CongressSevadal @SevadalDL @rohanrgupta @NayakRagini @LambaAlka pic.twitter.com/1OxIDcuiq6
— Chandni Chowk Congress Sevadal (@SevadalCCK) August 28, 2021

Till the time of investigation, hundreds of people have liked the post, believing it to be true. Countless users on social media have shared this infographic with similar and similar claims.

News Verification In the investigation we found that the claim is false. The viral post claims to impose a tax on school books. Under the new tax regime in the country, now GST (Goods and Services Tax) is collected on goods and services. To know the tax levied on books, we went through the list of tax slabs and the items included in them.

According to the information available on several websites giving tax and related information, the rate of GST on printed material like books and newspapers is zero. Complete information about this has been provided along with the list in Chapter 49.

As per the information available on the website of cbic.gov.in, in which the information of zero tax on printed books has been given.