ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ : Students, housewives, farmers and tourists will need to pay more for some items of daily use after the GST Council decided to raise levies on a host of items, including ink, pencil sharpeners, cutlery, LED lamps, power-driven pumps, and dairy, poultry and horticulture machinery.
The move, which also involves removing some tax exemptions, is aimed at ironing out inconsistencies in the structure that led to what is known as “duty inversion”, the finance minister said following the conclusion of the council’s meeting, but the decision – collectively taken by states and Centre – was panned by some opposition parties for its potential to fan inflation.
States seeking an extension of the guaranteed compensation period were unable to make any headway at the meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council that ended Wednesday, even as the body rationalised rates and removed exemptions, measures that experts said would add to the stability of the Goods and Services Tax regime.
A proposal to levy 28% GST on casinos, online gaming, horse racing and lottery was deferred, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, following the two-day meeting of the council.