In a major relief for the people of India, the Union Finance Ministry has announced a reduction in Goods and Service Taxes (GST) on the purchase of electronic items on the 6th anniversary of the GST implementation. Along with the announcement, the government has issued a list of items, on which taxes will be reduced following the GST implementation. As a part of this, customers will not have to pay the 31.3 percent GST while buying electronic items including smart TVs and mobile phones among others. Apart from that, many other home appliances and electronic items will also see a reduction in GST rates.
The list issued by the government reduced GST rates aims to make purchases more affordable for customers.
Reduced GST rates for electronic items:
Earlier, customers had to pay a GST of 31.3 percent while purchasing TVs up to 27 inches, refrigerators, washing machines, geysers, fans, coolers, and electrical appliances like mixers, juicers, and vacuum cleaners. However, GST rates on all these items have been reduced to 18 percent. Also, GST rates on mobile phones have been also reduced from 31.3 percent to 12 percent. Mobile companies have consequently reduced the prices of their phones.
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Among other home appliances, while the GST rate of LPG stove has been reduced from 21 percent to 18 percent, LEDs have been reduced from 15 percent to 12 percent, sewing machines from 16 percent to 12 percent, static converters from 28 percent to 18 percent, kerosene pressure lantern from 8 percent to 5 percent, and vacuum flask and other vacuum vessels from 28 percent to 18 percent.
About GST implementation
In a major step by the central government, GST laws were introduced on July 1, 2017, and since then have played a crucial role in the GST framework of India. Through this, the complex web of taxes was replaced by categorised taxes on goods and services under different tax slabs, including 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent, and 28 percent.