Pay GST on pre-packed food items from today

New Delhi, July 17

Customers will have to pay 5 per cent GST on pre-packed, labelled food items like atta, paneer and curd, besides hospital rooms with rent above Rs 5,000 from Monday with the GST Council’s decision coming into force.

In its recent meeting in Chandigarh, the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, withdrew exemptions from taxation on these items.

In 5% tax bracket

• Curd, lassi, buttermilk and paneer
• Jaggery, natural honey
• Rice, wheat, rye, barley, oats
• Wheat & meslin flour
• Tender coconut water (12%)

Tax hiked to 18%

• LED lamps, ink, knives, blades, pencil sharpener, metal printed circuits boards, power-driven pumps, bicycle pumps, dairy machinery

In addition, hotel rooms with tariff of up to Rs 1,000 per day, maps and charts, including atlases, will attract a 12 per cent GST, while 18 per cent GST will be levied on tetra packs and fees charged by banks for the issue of cheques (loose or in book form).

The council, based on an interim report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation, had also removed duty inversion for goods where the taxes on inputs were higher than those on the output.