GST rate cuts: what is set to become cheaper

Out of 228 items in the 28% tax bracket, 178 have been put into the lower tax category of 18%, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced at a press briefing after the GST Council meeting in Guwahati on Friday.

For restaurants, the tax rate will be 5% uniform for all AC and non-AC restaurants without input tax credit (ITC). Restaurants in star hotels would charge 18% tax with ITC, said Mr. Jaitley.

Here's the list of various products that have become cheaper:

Rates slashed from 28% to 18%

• Wire, cables, insulated conductors, electrical insulators, electrical plugs, switches, sockets, fuses, relays, electrical connectors
• Electrical boards, panels, consoles, cabinets etc for electric control or distribution
• Particle/fibre boards and ply wood. Article of wood, wooden frame, paving block
• Furniture, mattress, bedding and similar furnishing
• Trunk, suitcase, vanity cases, brief cases, travelling bags and other hand bags, cases
• Detergents, washing and cleaning preparations
• Liquid or cream for washing the skin
• Shampoos; Hair cream, Hair dyes (natural, herbal or synthetic) and similar other goods; henna powder or paste, not mixed with any other ingredient;
• Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, room deodorisers
• Perfumes and toilet waters
• Beauty or make-up preparations
• Fans, pumps, compressors
• Lamp and light fitting
• Primary cell and primary batteries
• Sanitary ware and parts thereof of all kind
• Articles of plastic, floor covering, baths, shower, sinks, washbasins, seats, sanitary ware of plastic
• Slabs of marbles and granite
• Goods of marble and granite such as tiles
• Ceramic tiles of all kinds
• Miscellaneous articles such as vacuum flasks, lighters,
• Wrist watches, clocks, watch movement, watch cases, straps, parts
• Article of apparel & clothing accessories of leather, guts, furskin, artificial fur and other articles such as saddlery and harness for any animal
• Articles of cutlery, stoves, cookers and similar non electric domestic appliances
• Razor and razor blades
• Multi-functional printers, cartridges
• Office or desk equipment
• Door, windows and frames of aluminium.
• Articles of plaster such as board, sheet,
• Articles of cement or concrete or stone and artificial stone,
• Articles of asphalt or slate,
• Articles of mica
• Ceramic flooring blocks, pipes, conduit, pipe fitting
• Wall paper and wall covering
• Glass of all kinds and articles thereof such as mirror, safety glass, sheets, glassware
• Electrical, electronic weighing machinery
• Fire extinguishers and fire extinguishing charge
• Fork lifts, lifting and handling equipment,
• Bull dozers, excavators, loaders, road rollers,
• Earth moving and levelling machinery,
• Escalators
• Cooling towers, pressure vessels, reactors
• Crankshaft for sewing machine, tailor’s dummies, bearing housings, gears and gearing; ball or roller screws; gaskets
• Electrical apparatus for radio and television broadcasting
• Sound recording or reproducing apparatus
• Signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for transports
• Physical exercise equipment, festival and carnival equipment, swings, shooting galleries, roundabouts, gymnastic and athletic equipment
• All musical instruments and their parts
• Artificial flowers, foliage and artificial fruits
• Explosive, anti-knocking preparation, fireworks
• Cocoa butter, fat, oil powder,
• Extract, essence ad concentrates of coffee, miscellaneous food preparations
• Chocolates, Chewing gum / bubble gum
• Malt extract and food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch or malt extract
• Waffles and wafers coated with chocolate or containing chocolate
• Rubber tubes and miscellaneous articles of rubber
• Goggles, binoculars, telescope,
• Cinematographic cameras and projectors, image projector,
• Microscope, specified laboratory equipment, specified scientific equipment such as for meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, geology
• Solvent, thinners, hydraulic fluids, anti-freezing preparation

28% to 12%

• Wet grinders consisting of stone as grinder
• Tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles
• Rates slashed from 18% to 12%
• 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

18% to 5%

• Puffed rice chikki, peanut chikki, sesame chikki, revdi, tilrevdi, khaza, kazuali, groundnut sweets gatta, kuliya
• Flour of potatoes put up in unit container bearing a brand name
• Chutney powder
• Fly ash
• Sulphur recovered in refining of crude
• Fly ash aggregate with 90% or more fly ash content

12% to 5%

• Desiccated coconut
• Narrow woven fabric including cotton newar [with no refund of unutilised input tax credit]
• Idli, 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

5% to nil

• Guar meal
• Hop cone (other than grounded, powdered or in pellet form)
• Certain dried vegetables such as sweet potatoes, maniac
• Unworked coconut shell
• Fish frozen or dried (not put up in unit container bearing a brand name)
• Khandsari sugar