oppn parties GST Council Meet: Boost To Tourism and Big Relief To Small Businesses

News Snippets

  • RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat calls for one temple, one well and one crematorium to do away with deep divisions in the hindu society
  • Staff unrest plagues craft beer manufacturer Bira as current and formaer employess allege delays in salary and other payments
  • Intel appoints India-origin Sachin Katti as CTO & AI chief
  • Sebi says there is no manufacturing activity reported from Gensol's EV plant in Pune
  • Shooting WC: Former world champion drops to last in 10m air rifle individual event as his rifle malfunctions
  • Shooting World Cup: Arjun Babuta misses gold by 0.1 pont, settles for silver in 10m air rifle while Radrankksh Patil and Arya Borse win silver in 10m air rifle mixed event
  • IPL: MI beat CSK as Rohit Sharma (76 no) and Suryakumar Yadav (68 no) make short work of PKBS bolwers. CSK, with 2 points from 8 matches, have reached a point of no return in this years' competition
  • IPL: RCB beat PKBS by 7 wickets as Virat Kohli (73 no) and D Padikkal (61) sizzle
  • After Bangladesh commented on the riots in bengal over the Waqf bill, the Indian government has asked it protect the minorities in its own country and stop commenting on India's internal affairs
  • PM Modi discussed collaboration in technical and innovation fields with Tesdla owner Elon Musk, who is visiting India before the imminent entry of his firm Starlink in the country
  • Murshidabad returning to normal after clashes over the Waqf bill, internet restored, curfew lifted
  • The murder of a 17-year-old boy sparked protests in Delhi's north-east area Seelampur
  • Allahabad HC stayed the demolition of a mosque in UP's Fatehpur after the district authorities order for razing it was challenged by the Masjid Waqf committee
  • Hyderabad Police pick up an alleged fraud accused from a hotel in Kolkata but Kolkata Police not kept in the loop. Relatives of the man file a missing complaint and FIR
  • An ICU technician was held in Gurugram's Medanta Hospital for sexually assaulting a patient
RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat calls for 'one temple, one well',as well as one crematorium, to end caste differences
oppn parties
GST Council Meet: Boost To Tourism and Big Relief To Small Businesses

By Linus Garg

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The GST Council meet in Goa on Friday did not meet the expectations of the automobile industry. It did not announce the rate cut that the industry, along with biscuit manufacturers and some other sections of the FMCG industry was expecting. Instead, in an effort to boost tourism, the council rationalized rates in the hotel industry to make them at par with those prevailing across the globe. This was needed as India is emerging as a prominent tourist destination (as also for medical tourism). The council cut the rates of rooms with tariff above Rs 7501 from 28% to 18% and those with tariff between Rs 2501 to Rs 7500 to 12% from 18%. Rooms below Rs 1000 remain GST-free while those between Rs 1001 and Rs 2500 will continue to attract 12% as before. Hence, the mid-segment has been broadened to include rooms from Rs 1001 to Rs 7500 and will now attract 12% GST. The tax rate on outdoor catering has also been cut to 5%. But travelers have to be prepared to shell out more for caffeinated drinks, including energy drinks, as they will now attract 28% GST instead of 18% before and an additional compensation cess of 12%. The government is trying to discourage the consumption of such drinks as they are considered sin goods.

The other rationalization of taxes was in job work where GST on job work in diamond was reduced from 5% to 1.5% and in engineering (other than bus body building) from 18% to 12%. In order to discourage the use of single-use plastic and support alternatives, the council brought plates and cups made of leaves, flowers and barks to zero percent from the 5% currently imposed on them. But the railway wagon, coaches and rolling stock industry was in for a surprise as the GST rate on them was upwardly revised from 5% to 12% without the accumulation of ITC. But the boldest move by the council was for small traders. In a major relief, business entities with a turnover of up to Rs 2 crore were exempted from filing annual returns. This is expected to benefit a large number of businesses.