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Amidst workshops and seminars for traders and businessmen, consumers have been offered little clarity on how GST (Goods and Services Tax) will impact their every day purchases. With just hours left for the new tax slabs to kick in, effectively meaning a change in the prices of day-to-day commodities, there are more questions doing the rounds than answers.

Here are a few guidelines:

All products are under four slabs. Know which slab your product falls under.

Ask questions the first couple of days.

Study the bill on every purchase you make.

If the price of a product has reduced, know and ask about it.

The most-asked question however, is - What will be the impact of GST on eating out?

The next time you eat out, the food on your plate is going to fetch you a new kind of bill.

Consumers will have to look out for different bills in different kinds of restaurants. “Those eating at budget hotels will be charged only 12% GST, and no service tax. This is an 8% increase from the old slab. Those eating in AC restaurants will have to shell out 18% as tax. But, small and roadside eateries, whose business does not cross over ₹20,000 a day, will have only 5% tax,” he said.

What this will translate into is migration of consumers to smaller eateries. “For example, with 5% tax, the price of a plate of idli-vada will rise from ₹40 to ₹42,” he said.

- Chandrashekhar Hebbar, president of Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association

Sixteen years in the making, India rolls out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, 2017. The Narendra Modi-led government will inaugurate the new indirect tax at the stroke of midnight of June 30 in Parliament.

What is GST?

(Source: PIB)

The GST is meant to be a unified indirect tax across the country on products and services. In the current system, tax is levied at each stage separately by the Union government and the States at varying rates, on the full value of the goods. But under the GST system, tax will be levied only on the value added at each stage. It is a single tax (collected at multiple points) with a full set-off for taxes paid earlier in the value chain.

Thus, the final consumer will bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain with set-off benefits at all the previous stages.

What is State GST and Central GST?

(Source: PIB)

For transactions within a State, there will be two components of GST - Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST) - levied on the value of goods and services. Both the Centre and the States will simultaneously levy GST across the value chain.

In the case of inter-State transactions, the Centre would levy and collect the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The IGST would be roughly equal to CGST plus SGST.

Why was GST established?

(Source: PIB)

The GST was established to subsume various indirect taxes levied at different levels, with the idea of reducing red-tape, plugging leakages and paving the way for a transparent indirect tax regime.

How will GST affect the common man?

(Source: The Hindu)

The impact of the GST on the prices of goods and services will largely depend on the item in question. It will also depend upon the respective State governments and their intervention with respect to controlling prices of essential commodities. Milk, for example, which is likely to see a spike in prices after GST is implemented, can still be sold at cheaper rates, if the State government offers a subsidy on it.

How will GST help in getting rid of tax evasion?

(Source: The Hindu)

A comprehensive IT system, GSTN, will allot universal GST numbers (similar to PAN) to all manufacturers, traders, stockists, wholesalers and retailers. This will simplify the administration of indirect taxes and plug leakages. The government also plans to incentivise tax compliance by traders.

Whether the GST will be beneficial to the poor or not only time can tell. Prices of vegetables and fruits are likely to rise under the GST regime and services such as eating at restaurants will get more expensive. What will likely get cheaper are items such as clothes, as cascading taxes at various stages of manufacturing would no longer apply to them.

Is GST going to benefit people below the poverty line?

Answered by Grant Thornton India LLP

With respect to those living below the poverty line, there might not be a direct impact of the GST on them as such since basic necessities like food are unlikely to attract the GST but increased collections of the GST with a larger tax base should provide an impetus to the government to allocate more money for social and poverty alleviation programmes. Thus, the GST should benefit all sections of the society. Additionally, the GST, being a nationwide tax, could lead to possibly higher inflation in the first few years of its introduction but would gradually increase the overall GDP.

How will GST affect tax deductions of a salaried person?

(Source: The Hindu)

The GST is an indirect tax collected from customers who buy manufactured goods or services. So whether you are earning a salary or not, as long as you buy something, you’ll be paying tax.

Which are the items that could become costlier and which are those that could become cheaper?

Answered by Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP

Broadly, services are expected to become costlier under the GST regime, as the expected GST rate would be higher than the existing service tax rate of 15%. Clearly, the GST is expected to bring down prices of indigenously manufactured goods on account of current effective indirect taxes (central excise @ 12.5%, State VAT @ 5%-15% etc.) being higher as compared to recommended lower GST rate @ 5% and standard GST rates @ 12% and 18%. Thus, price of certain category of goods may come down depending on the effective rate of indirect taxes being paid at present and the tax brackets under which goods are classified under the GST.

For detailed answers by experts from Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Grant Thornton India, BMR & Associates and EY India, read The Hindu’s The GST of it: Your Questions on the Goods and Services Tax Answered available at Juggernaut.

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