GST Council Meeting: Council Considers Lowering GST to 5% on Major Consumer Goods and Essentials:

GST Council Meeting: Council Considers Lowering GST to 5% on Major Consumer Goods and Essentials The GST Council meeting set for September 3 has started. In these meetings important decisions will be taken related to GST. This meeting may include discussion of GST rate reduction. It is expected that under this meeting, tax slabs will be changed under GST and due to these changes, many items will get tax exemption. Some items will become expensive as well. Experts expect that taxes will be imposed on items including petroleum, gold and diamonds as before. On the other hand, there will be no tax on essential food items, including pizza, bread, paneer, khakhra, chapati and roti, or there will be a 5% tax imposed. Comparably there will be no tax on stationery, medical equipment and medicines as well or there will be a 5% tax imposed.

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Here are some items that are expected to become cheaper:

Items	What is it now (%)	How much can be (%)
Packaged spices	12	5
processed coffee	12	5
Shoes	12	5
fabric	12	5
Medicines	12	5
Tractor	12	5
Ghee and butter	12	5
dry fruits	12	5
AC and fridge	28	18
TV	28	18
Cement	28	18

However, it is expected that GST can be increased on harmful items. According to reports, due to proposed GST reform the central and state governments are expected to lose revenue of Rs 0.7-1.8 trillion. Tax experts say that the slash in tax rates is anticipated to increase consumption and several businesses in the food sector say that the reduction will motivate more citizens to purchase food items, and they will not have to depend on Oil/Ghee (which costs Rs. 35,000 crore every year).