New GST Rates List: Dairy items, health facility now costlier; Here's what gets expensive, 5 key points

Last month when GST council met tofinalize the structuring of GST rates on certain daily need items. It was decidedto increase the GST rate on some essential daily items. With the decision nowcoming into effect today, many food items, such as curd, rice, lassi, and wheatflour are set to get costlier.

The dairy products now under GST’s ambit:

GST council meeting presided over bythe Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman decided to bring dairy products under GST for the firsttime ever. The council finalized to bring Tetra-packed lassi, curd, andbuttermilk under a 5% slab. Apart from this unbranded pre-packed and pre-labelflour and lentils will have a 5% tax rate as well.

18% earmarked for LED lights and lamps:

Blade, scissors, pencil sharpeners, spoons,forks, cake services, and other entities have undergone a hike in GST ratesimposed. The latest structure in effect from today, highlights 18% tax slabs onthese items, besides imposing the same rate on LED lights and lamps up from12%.

Costly health facilities:

If a hospital bed charges you Rs 5000and above per day you will have to cough up an additional 5% on it under thenew regime. However, ICU, ICCU, and NICU rooms have been exempted from this.

The complete list under the new GSTregime:

• Flightsnow flying from far-off eastern regions of the country, such as ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, and Bagdogra whichwas tax-free by far will charge their passengers traveling in Business class 18%more under the new structure, however, economy class travel is still tax-free.
• Forhotel rooms below Rs 1000, the new tax structure has the provision of 12%,which was nil before this.
  
• Thestorage in the warehouse over goods such as dry fruits, spices, cotton, jute,tobacco, tea, coffee, jaggery, tendup leaves, etc will charge you an additional12% extra. The farm output undergoing fumigation in the storage, which was tax-freeuntil date, has been revised to the tune of 18% after the restructuring.
  
• GSTcouncil has decreased the tax slab on the usage of ropeway from 18 to 5%. Apartfrom this the GST rates on splints and other fracture equipment, artificialelements implanted in the body after the surgery, body implants, and intraocularlens has gone down to 5% from 12 before the revision.
  
• In the list where the tax has been restructured,there is mention of certain special imports for the defence forces, which willbecome tax-free from today. 
  
• Operators providing services for carriers where thefuel rate is included in the expense got slight relief in the change fromtoday, where the tax rate was 18% it has gone down to 12% today.

Increase in the GST collection:

The GST collection for the month ofJune has increased to Rs 1.45 lakh crore in comparison to last year this is agrowth of over 56%. In May the number was 1.41 lakh crore.