Dinning out has become cheaper after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) council reduced taxed on all restaurants from 18% to 5 %.

Viral Message: Dinning out has become cheaper  after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) council reduced taxed on all restaurants from 18% to 5 %.

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Viral Message Example – GST rates at restaurants reduced from 18% to 5 % will be effective from today. If any of the restaurants is levying more than 5% today onwards, you can register your complaints on toll free number 1800225900.

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A message is circulating on WhatsApp and other social media that GST rates at restaurants reduced from 18% to 5 % will be effective from today. If any of the restaurants is levying more than 5% today onwards, you can register your complaints on toll free number 1800225900.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed about the key decisions taken in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Friday. He said that there were 228 items in 28% tax bracket. Of these, 178 items have been reduced by tax and they have been brought in 18% slab. Apart from this, many items have been deducted tax. Jaitley said - now 5% GST will be imposed on all types of restaurants. According to Jaitley, the advantage of these new rates will start from November 15. Narendra Modi said on these changes that this will benefit our citizens in the future.

Restaurants at Star Hotel, which charge 7500 rupees or more per room, will be 18% GST and they will also get the benefit of input tax credit (ITC). But those restaurants who charge less than 7,500 will be charged 5% GST and they will not get the benefit of ITC.

.@GST_Council announces big changes; 178 items are out of the 28% bracket & only 50 remain. Catch all the updates #… https://t.co/p9WcuFeSyP

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) November 10, 2017

It has been a consistent endeavour of the govt. to work closely with citizens in nation building.  #GSTCouncil is an example

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) November 10, 2017

178 items removed from 28% slab to 18 % in GST. Only 50 demerit & luxury items now in 28% slab.

— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) November 10, 2017

The recommendations made by the GST Council today will further benefit our citizens and add strength to the GST. These recommendations are in spirit of the continuous feedback we are getting from various stakeholders on GST.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 10, 2017

Here is a lowdown on the items under each GST bracket:

1) Goods exempt from tax

Jute, fresh meat, fish chicken, eggs, milk, buttermilk, curd, natural honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, flour, besan, bread, prasad, salt, bindi. Sindoor, stamps, judicial papers, printed books, newspapers, bangles, handloom, Bones and horn cores, bone grist, bone meal, hoof meal, horn meal, Cereal grains hulled, Palmyra jaggery, Salt – all types of Kajal, Childrens’ picture, drawing or colouring books, Human hair, Khadi purchased from Khadi and Village Industries stores, Clay idols, brooms, Cotton seed oil cake, Charkha, Guar meal, hop cone, certain dried vegetables, unworked coconut shell and fish, and bangles of lac/shellac.

0.25%
Rough industrial diamonds including unsorted rough diamonds to face 0.25% instead of 3% GST.

2) Items under 5% tax slab

Items such as fish fillet, apparel below Rs 1000, packaged food items, footwear below Rs 500, cream, skimmed milk powder, branded paneer, frozen vegetables, coffee, tea, spices, pizza bread, rusk, sabudana, kerosene, coal, medicines, stent, lifeboats, Cashew nut, Cashew nut in shell, Raisin, Ice and snow, Bio gas, Insulin, Agarbatti, Kites, Postage or revenue stamps, stamp-post marks, first-day covers, Branded food, walnuts, dried tamarind, roasted gram, Dhoop batti, Corduroy fabric, saree fall, Paper mache items,Oil cakes, Duty Credit Scrips,Cotton quilts(quilts not exceeding Rs 1000 per piece),corals,Rosaries and prayer beads,Hawan samagri,Grass, leaf and reed and fibre products,including mats, pouches, wallets, mangoes sliced dried, Khakra and plain chapati / roti, branded Namkeens, Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy medicines; Paper waste or scrap; Real Zari; Plastic waste, parings or scrap; Rubber waste, parings or scrap; Hard Rubber waste or scrap.

Kites have been kept under 5% tax slab. File Photo

Paper waste or scrap; Real Zari; Plastic waste, parings or scrap; Rubber waste, parings or scrap; Hard Rubber waste or scrap; Paper waste or scrap; Real Zari; Cullet or other waste or scrap of Glass; E-Waste; Biomass briquettes; Desiccated coconut, Narrow woven fabric including cotton newar [with no refund of unutilised input tax credit; Idli and dosa batter; Finished leather; chamois and composition leather; Coir cordage and ropes, jute twine, coir products; Fishing net and fishing hooks; Worn clothing; Fly ash brick, aircraft tyres, puffed rice chikki, flour of potatoes, chutney power, fly sulphur recovered in refining crude and fly ash.

Services

All restaurants, restaurants of hotels with room tariff of less than Rs 7,500, Food parcels, Textile job work, Transport services (Railways, air transport); Supply of e-waste

3) Items under 12% tax slab

Apparel above Rs 1000, frozen meat products , butter, cheese, ghee, dry fruits in packaged form, animal fat, sausage, fruit juices, Bhutia, namkeen, Ayurvedic medicines, tooth powder, agarbatti, colouring books, picture books, umbrella, sewing machine, cellphones, Ketchup & Sauces, All diagnostic kits and reagents, Exercise books and note books, Spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, fish knives, tongs, Spectacles, corrective, Playing cards, chess board, carom board and other board games, like ludo, rubber band, Wood, stone, metals, marble idols,Table and kitchenware,Batters, including idli / dosa batter, Textile caps,sprinklers, Cotton quilts(quilts exceeding Rs 1000 per piece).

Essential food items like butter, frozen meat products, cheese, ghee, dry fruits have been kept under 12% tax slab. File Photo

Statues, statuettes, pedestals,ceramic articles, porcelain items, ornamental articles, bells, gongs, non-electric of base metal,animal carving material, synthetic filament yarn, such as nylon, polyester, acrylic, etc; artificial filament yarn, such as viscose rayon, Cuprammonium; Sewing thread of manmade staple fibres; Yarn of manmade staple fibres; Condensed milk, Refined sugar and sugar cubes, Pasta, Curry paste, mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed seasoning, Diabetic food, Medicinal grade oxygen, Printing ink, Hand bags and shopping bags of jute and cotton, Hats (knitted or crocheted), Parts of specified agricultural, horticultural, forestry, harvesting or threshing machinery, Specified parts of sewing machine, Spectacles frames, Furniture wholly made of bamboo or cane

Services
State-run lotteries, Non-AC hotels, business class air ticket, fertilisers, Work contracts

4) Items under 18% tax slab

Footwear costing more than Rs 500, Trademarks, goodwill, software, Bidi Patta, Biscuits (All categories), flavoured refined sugar, pasta, cornflakes, pastries and cakes, preserved vegetables, jams, sauces, soups, ice cream, instant food mixes, mineral water, tissues, envelopes, tampons, note books, steel products, printed circuits, camera, speakers, Kajal pencil sticks, Headgear and parts thereof, Aluminium foil, Weighing Machinery (other than electric or electronic weighing machinery), Printers (other than multifunction printers), Electrical Transformer, CCTV, Optical Fiber, Bamboo furniture, Swimming pools and padding pools, Curry paste; mayonnaise and salad dressings; mixed condiments and mixed seasonings, Tractor parts, raincoats, Medical grade disposable gloves, Computer monitors(up to 20 inch),Custard powder,Rice rubber rolls for paddy de-husking machine, Kitchen gas lighters, poster Colour; Modelling paste for children amusement; Fittings for loose-leaf binders or files, letter clips, letter corners, paper clips, indexing tags and similar office articles, of base metal; staples in strips; aircraft engines.

Ice-cream falls under 18% tax slab. File Photo

Chewing gum, white chocolate, not containing cocoa Cocoa butter, fat and oil, Cocoa powder, not containing added sugar or sweetening matter, Chocolates and other food preparations containing cocoa, Malt extract; food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch or malt extract, not containing cocoa or containing less than 40% by weight of cocoa calculated on a totally defatted basis, not elsewhere specified or included; food preparations of goods of heading 0401 to 0404, not containing cocoa or containing less than 5% by weight of cocoa calculated on a totally defatted basis not elsewhere specified or included [other than preparations for infants or young children, put up for retail sale and mixes and doughs for the preparation of bakers’ wares of heading, Waffles and wafers coated with chocolate or containing chocolate, Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included i.e. Protein concentrates and textured protein substances, Sugar-syrups containing added flavouring or colouring matter, not elsewhere specified or included; lactose syrup; glucose syrup and malto dextrine syrup, Compound preparations for making non-alcoholic beverages, Food flavouring material, Churna for pan, Custard powder, other non-alcoholic beverages, all goods [including aerated waters], containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured, marble and travertine, other than blocks Granite, other than blocks Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, super sulphate cement and similar hydraulic cements, whether or not coloured or in the form of clinkers.

Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers are under 18% tax slab. File Photo

Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in a non-aqueous medium; Paints and varnishes(including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in an aqueous medium, other paints and varnishes (including enamels, lacquers and distempers); prepared water pigments of a kind used for finishing leather, artists’, students’ or signboard painters’ colours, modifying tints, amusement colours and the like, in tablets, tubes, jars, bottles, pans or in similar forms or packings, all goods, i.e. preparations for use on the hair such as Shampoos; Preparations for permanent waived or straightening; Hair lacquers; Brilliantines (spirituous); Hair cream, Hair dyes (natural, herbal or synthetic) [other than Hair oil], preparations for oral or dental hygiene, including and powders; yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss), in individual retail packages [other thandentifrices in powder or paste from (tooth powder or toothpaste)], pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories and other perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, not elsewhere specified or included; prepared room deodorisers, whether or not perfumed or having disinfectant properties; such as Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave Preparations, Shaving cream.

The leather industry has been facing grave difficulties in production activity and leather goods have been placed in the 18% slab. File Photo

Personal deodorants and antiperspirants, Organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap; paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent, organic surface-active agents (other than soap); surface-active preparations, washing preparations (including auxiliary washing preparations) and cleaning preparations, whether or not containing soap, other than those of heading, lubricating preparations(including cutting-oil preparations, bolt or nut release preparations, antirust or anti-corrosion preparations and mould release preparations, based on lubricants) and preparations of a kind used for the oil or grease treatment of textile materials, leather, furskins or other materials, but excluding preparations containing, as basic constituents, 70% or more by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, polishes and creams, for footwear, furniture, floors, coachwork, glass or metal, scouring pastes and powders and similar preparations (whether or not in the form of paper, wadding, felt, nonwovens, cellular plastics or cellular rubber, impregnated, coated or covered with such preparations), excluding waxes of heading, modelling pastes, including those put up for children’s amusement, Preparations and charges for fire-extinguishers; charged fire-extinguishing grenades.

Retreaded or used tyres and flaps, inner tubes of rubber attract 18% tax. File Photo

Hydraulic brake fluids and other prepared liquids for hydraulic transmission, not containing or containing less than 70% by weight of petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals, Anti-freezing preparations and prepared de-icing fluids. Floor coverings of plastics, whether or not self-adhesive, in rolls or in form of tiles; wall or ceiling coverings of plastics, other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings [other than bangles of plastic, PVC Belt Conveyor, plastic beads and plastic tarpaulins], New pneumatic tyres, of rubber [other than of a kind used on/in bicycles, cycle-rickshaws and three wheeled powered cycle rickshaws; and Rear Tractor tyres], Retreaded or used tyres and flaps, inner tubes of rubber [other than of a kind used on bicycles, cyclerickshaws and three wheeled powered cycle rickshaws; and Rear Tractor tyre tubes], other articles of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (other than erasers), Hard rubber (for example ebonite) in all forms, including waste and scrap; articles of hard rubber.

Trunks, suit-cases, vanitycases, executive-cases, brief-cases also fall under 18% tax bracket. File Photo

Trunks, suit-cases, vanitycases, executive-cases, brief-cases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; travellingbags, insulated food or beverages bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, mapcases, cigarette-cases, tobacco- pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottlecases, jewellery boxes, powder-boxes, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper [other than School satchels and bags other than of leather or composition leather, Toilet cases, Hand bags and shopping bags, of artificial plastic material, of cotton, or of jute, Vanity bags, handbags of other materials excluding wicker work or basket work, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, of leather or of composition leather, Articles of gut (other than silk-worm gut), of goldbeater’s skin, of bladders or of tendons, Particle board, Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and similar board (for example, wafer board) of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not agglomerated with resins, or other organic binding substances, other than specified boards, Fibre board of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances, other than specified boards.

Stone (including slate), marble, travertine and alabaster will have 18% tax. File Photo

Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood, densified wood, in blocks, plates, strips, or profile shapes, Wooden frames for paintings, photographs, mirrors or similar objects, Builders’ joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels, assembled flooring panels, shingles and shakes, Wood paving blocks, articles of densified wood not elsewhere included or specified, Parts of domestic decorative articles used as tableware and kitchenware, Wall paper and similar wall coverings; window transparencies of paper, artificial flowers, foliage and fruit and parts thereof; articles made of artificial flowers, foliage or fruit, Wool or other animal hair or other textile materials prepared for use in making wigs, worked monumental or building stone (except slate) and articles thereof, other than goods of heading 6801; mosaic cubes and the like, of natural stone (including slate), whether or not on a backing; artificially coloured granules, chippings and powder, of natural stone (including slate); of marble, travertine and alabaster, of Granite, of Other calcareous stone Worked slate and articles of slate or of agglomerated slate, Panels, boards, tiles, blocks and similar articles of vegetable fibre, of straw or of shavings, chips, particles, sawdust or other waste, of wood, agglomerated with cement, plaster or other mineral binders, Articles of plaster or of compositions based on plaster; such as Boards, sheets, panels, tiles and similar articles, not ornamented, Articles of cement, of concrete or of artificial stone, whether or not reinforced; such as Tiles, flagstones, bricks and similar articles, Building blocks and bricks, Cement bricks, Prefabricated structural components for Building or civil engineering, Prefabricated structural components for building or civil engineering

Services
Restaurants in hotel premises having room tariff of Rs 7500 and above, telecom services, IT services, branded garments and financial services, Outdoor catering

5) Items under 28% tax slab

Bidis, molasses, pan masala, aerated water, paint, sunscreen, wallpaper, ceramic tiles, water heater, dishwasher, weighing machine, washing machine, ATM, vending machines, vacuum cleaner, automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft for personal use

Services
Private-run lotteries authorised by the states, race club betting, cinema will attract tax 28 per cent tax slab under GST.