Published By: Soham Halder

GST Council's New Price Tags: What Gets a Price Cut and What’s Up Overnight

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council at its 54th meeting in New Delhi on September 9 announced revised price tags for certain products and services.

The 54th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was attended by key officials from the finance ministry, along with finance ministers from different states. The all-powerful GST Council has announced appreciable reductions in taxes on different goods and services to make those essential items more affordable for Indians. Let's have a look on what costs less and what costs more now.

What becomes Cheaper?

The major price cuts include certain cancer drugs, helicopter travel, along with famous snacks like ‘namkeen’.

The GST Council has reduced the tax on several life-saving cancer medications from 12% to 5%. These drugs include Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab.

"With the increasing burden of chronic diseases in India, this is a move toward making life-saving drugs accessible and improving health outcomes," expressed Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

Similarly, the tax on shared helicopter rides has also been reduced to 5%. Experts believe this move will surely benefit Kedarnath-Badrinath and Vaishno Devi pilgrimage travelers. However, the tax on chartered helicopter services will continue be at 18% rate.

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The tax on fried snacks or ‘namkeen’ has also been reduced to 12% from 18%. However, the GST rate of 5% will continue on unfried or uncooked snack pellets.

These reductions are definitely a welcome change for Indians fighting against rising inflation.

Tax Hike Alert:

The Council has announced a hike on tax for car and two-wheeler seats along with ACs. The GST on car and two-wheeler seats has been hiked from 18% to 28%.

“Roof-mounted Package Unit (RMPU) air conditioners (classified under HSN 8415) used in railways have also been moved into the highest GST slab of 28%,” according to the press release.

Tax Exemption on R&D:

The GST Council has exempted research and development (R&D) activities funded by private as well as public entities. “The Council has today decided that funds given for research to State-affiliated universities, or those that have come about under State or Central laws, or those that have obtained Income Tax exemption, can receive research funds both from the public sector (government) and private sectors and will be exempt from paying GST,” the finance minister said.

Also, the flying training courses conducted by DGCA approved organizations are exempted from taxes. The council has also decided to exempt import tax of services by foreign airlines.

(Credit - @ANI X handle)

In the last meet, GST on online gaming was announced, which proved to be a gamechanger for Indian economy. Revenues from Online gaming and Casinos have surged 412% to ₹6,909 crore in 6 months, as per the submitted status report. Previously, numerous online gaming firms were not paying 28% GST, which became mandatory since October, 2023.

The council is yet to take decisions on health insurance and compensation tax. Also, key decisions on taxing electric vehicles (EV) charging stations were postponed to next meeting.