No GST on these meals objects when bought unfastened, clarifies FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday gave a listing of meals objects which can be exempted from GST, offered they’re bought unfastened and never pre-packed or pre-labeled.

These embrace objects reminiscent of pulses/daal, wheat, rye, oats, maize, rice, aata/flour, suji/rawa, besan, puffed rice and curd/lassi.

It should even be famous that objects specified beneath within the record, when bought unfastened, and never pre-packed or pre-labeled, is not going to appeal to any GST. (10/14) pic.twitter.com/NM69RbU13I

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) July 19, 2022

The minister in a collection of tweets clarified the brand new charges on GST which got here into impact on Monday. The transfer comes after Lok Sabha proceedings have been adjourned on Tuesday amidst opposition protests over GST charges and value rise.

Sitharaman defended the imposition of 5 per cent GST on meals articles in her tweets and mentioned that the choice was unanimous by the GST Council and all states have been current in GST Council assembly when this challenge was introduced by the Group of Ministers on Rate Rationalisation on June 28, 2022.

She mentioned that this isn’t the primary time that such meals articles are being taxed. “States were collecting significant revenue from foodgrain in the pre-GST regime. Punjab alone collected more Rs 2,000 cr on food grain by way of purchase tax. UP collected Rs 700 cr.”

Explaining the GST, she mentioned that when GST was rolled out, a GST fee of 5 per cent was made relevant on branded cereals, pulses, flour. Later this was amended to tax solely such objects which have been bought beneath registered model or model on which enforceable proper was not foregone by provider.

However, she mentioned that quickly there was rampant misuse of this provision by reputed producers and model homeowners and progressively GST income from these things fell considerably.

“This was RESENTED by suppliers and industry associations who were paying taxes on branded goods. They wrote to the Govt to impose GST uniformly on all packaged commodities to stop such misuse. This rampant evasion in tax was also observed by States,” Sitharaman mentioned in a tweet.

The minister wrote that the Fitment Committee which consisted of officers from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat had additionally examined this challenge over a number of conferences and made its suggestions for altering the modalities to curb misuse.

“It is in this context that the GST Council in its 47th meeting took the decision. With effect from July 18, 2022, only the modalities of imposition of GST on these goods was changed with no change in coverage of GST except 2-3 items,” she mentioned.

“It has been prescribed that GST on these goods shall apply when supplied in “pre-packaged and labelled” commodities attracting the provisions of Legal Metrology Act,” the minister mentioned.