The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Saturday cut rates on 23 commonly used items such as TV screens, movie tickets and power banks. The council rationalised the 28 per cent slab by shifting seven items to lower tax rates, thereby leaving only 28 items in the slab. Now, the 28 per cent slab is restricted to only luxury and sin goods, apart from auto parts and cement -- tax rates on which could not be cut due to the high revenue implication. (Also read: 32-inch TVs, movie tickets get cheaper; 7 items moved from 28% GST rate)
Here are some of the items moved to lower tax rates after the 31st GST Council meeting:
| ITEM (GOODS) | Existing rate | New rate |
|---|---|---|
| Pulleys, transmission shafts and cranks, gear boxes etc., falling under HS Code 8483 | 28 | 18 |
| Monitors and TVs up to 32 inches | 28 | 18 |
| Re-treaded or used pneumatic tyres of rubber; | 28 | 18 |
| Power banks of lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are already at 18%. This will bring parity in GST rate of power bank and lithium ion battery. | 28 | 18 |
| Digital cameras and video camera recorders | 28 | 18 |
| Video game consoles and other games and sports requisites falling under HS code 9504. | 28 | 18 |
| Parts and accessories for the carriages for disabled persons | 28 | 5 |
| Cork roughly squared or debagged | 18 | 12 |
| Articles of natural cork | 18 | 12 |
| Agglomerated cork | 18 | 12 |
| Marble rubble | 18 | 5 |
| Natural cork | 12 | 5 |
| Walking Stick | 12 | 5 |
| Fly ash Blocks | 12 | 5 |
| Music books | 12 | 0 |
| Vegetables frozen, branded and put in a unit container | 5 | 0 |
| Vegetable provisionally preserved but unsuitable in that state for immediate consumption | 5 | 0 |
| SERVICES | ||
| Cinema tickets above Rs. 100 | 28 | 18 |
| Cinema tickets up to Rs 100 | 18 | 12 |
| Third party insurance premium of goods carrying vehicles | 18 | 12 |
The new GST rates will come into effect from January 1, 2019, the government said.
(With agency inputs)
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