GST Rates – Goods

GST stands for Goods and Services Tax and it is classified into three types

• CGST – Central GST
• SGST – State GST
• IGST – Integrated GST

And the GST rates are classified into 4 Tier Structure of which some of the commodities are placed in high tax brackets of 28% and basic essential commodities are placed in lower tax brackets of 5% and fewer commodities are placed in Nil rate tax slab.

As far as the initial drafted GST law we didn’t see major changes in GST rates as GST council tried to keep up the GST rates close to its original rates but the on go of changes in the economy made to push back the GST rates and as a result changes were made in GST rates now and then.

The table given below shows the GST tax rate on some common items -

GST Goods Tax Rates	Products
5%	Household necessities such as edible oil, sugar, spices, tea, and coffee (except instant) are included. Coal, Mishti/Mithai (Indian Sweets) and Life-saving drugs are also covered under this GST slab
0.25%	Cut and semi-polished stones are included under this tax slab.
12%	This includes computers and processed food
18%	Hair oil, toothpaste and soaps, capital goods and industrial intermediaries are covered in this slab.
28%	Luxury items such as small cars, consumer durables like AC and Refrigerators, premium cars, cigarettes and aerated drinks, High-end motorcycles are included here.

The government has proposed a 4-tier tax structure for all goods and services under the slabs- 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. After the recent revision of GST rates, these are the commodities that fall under the four tax slabs along with those that do not attract any tax.

GST rate schedule for Goods that underwent changes :

• Nil rated goods in GST: Apart from other items that enjoy zero GST tax rate, these are the commodities added to the list after 11th June rate revision –
  • Hulled cereal grains like barley, wheat, oat, rye, etc.
  • Bones and horn-cores unworked and waste of these products.
  • Palmyra jaggery
  • All types of salt
  • Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) of animal feed grade conforming to IS specification No. 5470:2002
  • Kajal [other than kajal pencil sticks]
  • Picture books, colouring books or drawing books for children
  • Human hair – dressed, thinned, bleached or otherwise worked
  • Sanitary Napkins
• 5% Tax Slab: Given below are the items that have been added to the 5% GST tax rate slab along with the other existing items-
  • Cashew nut
  • Cashew nut in shell
  • Ice and snow
  • Biogas
  • Insulin
  • Aggarbatti
  • Kites
  • Fly-ash blocks
  • Walking sticks
  • Natural cork
  • Marble rubble
  • Coir mats, matting and floor covering
  • Pawan Chakki that is Wind-based Atta Chakki
  • Postage or revenue stamps, stamp-postmarks, first-day covers, etc.
  • Numismatic coins
  • Braille paper, braille typewriters, braille watches, hearing aids and other appliances to compensate for a defect or disability.
  • Accessories/parts for carriages designed for differently-abled individuals
• 12% Tax Slab: After the GST council meeting on 11th June, the following items were added to the 12% GST rates category-
  • Preparations of vegetables, fruits, nuts or other parts of plants, including pickle, murabba, chutney, jam, jelly
  • Ketchup, sauces and mustard sauce but excluding curry paste, mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed dressings
  • Bari made of pulses including mungodi
  • Menthol and menthol crystals, peppermint, fractionated/de-terpenated mentha oil, decentralised oil, Mentha piperita oil and spearmint oil
  • All diagnostic kits and reagents
  • Plastic beads
  • Exercise books and notebooks
  • Fly ash blocks
  • Glasses for corrective spectacles and flint buttons
  • Spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, fish knives, tongs
  • Fixed Speed Diesel Engines
  • A two-way radio (Walkie talkie) used by defence, police and paramilitary forces etc.
  • Intraocular lens
  • Corrective spectacles
  • Playing cards, chess board, carom board and other board games, like ludo, etc.
  • Debagged/roughly squared cork
  • Items manufactured from natural cork
  • Agglomerated cork
• 18% Tax Slab: The items mentioned below have been added to the 18% GST tax rate slab among the other existing items-
  • Kajal pencil sticks
  • Dental wax
  • Plastic Tarpaulin
  • School satchels and bags other than of leather or composition leather; toilet cases, Handbags and shopping bags of artificial plastic material, cotton or jute; Handbags of other materials excluding wicker work or basket work
  • Headgear and parts thereof
  • Precast Concrete Pipes
  • Salt Glazed Stone Ware Pipes
  • Aluminium foil
  • All goods, including hooks and eyes
  • Rear Tractor tyres and rear tractor tyre tubes
  • Rear Tractor wheel rim, tractor centre housing, tractor housing transmission, tractor support front axle
  • Weighing Machinery other than electric or electronic weighing machinery
  • Printers other than multifunction printers
  • Ball bearing, Roller Bearings, Parts & related accessories
  • Transformers Industrial Electronics
  • Electrical Transformer
  • Static Converters (UPS)
  • Recorder
  • CCTV
  • Set top Box for TV
  • Computer monitors not exceeding 17 inches
  • Electrical Filaments or discharge lamps
  • Winding Wires, Coaxial cables and Optical Fiber
  • Perforating or stapling machines (staplers), pencil sharpening machines
  • Baby carriages
  • Instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand (for example, measuring rods and tapes, micrometres, callipers)
  • Bamboo furniture
  • Swimming pools and paddling pools
  • Televisions/Monitors (up to 32 inches)
  • Power banks powered by Lithium-ion batteries
  • Sports goods, games consoles and related items with HSN code 9504
  • All items with HSN code 8483 including gearboxes, transmission cranks and pulleys
  • Used or retreaded pneumatic rubber tires

• GST rate on electrical goods/machinery

  Rate of GST on goods
  5%	Hand pumps and it’s parts Solar water heater system Biogas plant Solar power based devices like solar lamps and panels Solar power generating system Windmill and wind operated electricity generator.
  12%	Nuclear fuel elements like uranium and thorium Power-driven pumps used for the flow of water Bicycle pumps Dairy machinery and machinery used for the production of milk Sewing machine Composite machine
  18%	Nuclear reactors and cartridges Steam or other vapour generating boilers Central boilers Producer gas or water heater boilers Steam turbines and other vapour turbines Hydraulic turbines and water wheels Turbo propellers, jets and other gas turbines turbojets Industrial or laboratory furnaces and ovens Machinery for the industrial preparation of food and drinks and extraction of animal and vegetable fats
  28%	Spark ignition combustion piston engine and parts used Compression ignition combustion piston engine and parts used Air or Vacuum pumps Air conditioning machines and elements used in the machine to change the temperature and humidity Refrigerators, freezers and any other freezing or refrigerating equipment Dishwashing machines and other household machines Forklift trucks and other work trucks Fire extinguishers Self-propelled bulldozers, road rollers and other mechanical equipment

  Handlooms used in the handicraft industry are the only machinery charged at NIL rate of tax under GST. Most of the electrical machinery are charged tax at a similar rate to the rate declared under GST.

  It is expected that the prices are going to stay neutral for the end consumer of the above electrical machinery. Although the manufacturers using electrical machinery will benefit from the availability of input tax credit on the services used which was not available under VAT.

• GST rate on sports goods

  GST Goods Tax rate
  12%	Sports goods other than articles and equipment for general physical exercise.

• GST rate on leather goods

  GST Goods Tax rate
  12%	Only leather gloves specially designed for use in sports is taxed at 12% GST. All other leather products are taxed at 28% GST rate
  28%	Saddlery and harness for any animal (including traces, leads, knee pads, muzzles, saddle cloths, saddlebags, dog coats and the like), of any material. Trunks, suitcases, vanity-cases, executive-cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; travelling-bags, insulated food or beverages bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map-cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, 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. Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, of leather or of composition leather.