Rates of 19 services revised by GST council, relief for textiles

New Delhi: The rates of 19 services have been revised by the GST Council on Saturday at its 20th meeting in the capital. The job work rate in the textile sector has also been reduced from 18% to 5%. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed that the businesses should pass on the benefit of the tax reform measure. The GST Council also lowered the rate on some tractor parts to 18% from 28%. The council is also likely to examine whether contracts linked to irrigation can be brought down to 5%. Moreover, an e-way bill to ensure seamless movement of goods was also approved in the meeting. As per the rules, all goods worth over Rs 50,000 must be pre-registered before they are moved for beyond 10 km though it will not be applicable for exempted goods. The unified e-way rules are likely to be in place by October 1. Jaitley said that the council decided to implement e-way bill across the country. There will be no check posts and the entire process will be technology driven. While adding more he informed that new registrations under GST have gone up to 15.67 lakh and 71 lakh state and central taxpayers have migrated to the new system. He also informed that the council might launch a campaign on the anti-profiteering issue in order to inform the consumer about the impact of GST. Meanwhile, in a bid to bring relief to the farming sector, the council has reduced the rate for agriculture services linked to post-harvest and storage from 18% to 12%. Furthermore, Planetarium has been reduced to 18% than the 28% previously, printing books and newspaper will now attract 5% if they use their own paper but it will be 12% with input tax credit if the paper is supplied by the printer outside, the rate for cab-renting services will be 12% if there is no input tax credit. Jaitley also announced in the meeting that the Fifa Youth World Cup, which is being held in India, has been exempted from GST. Jaitley also announced in the meeting that the Fifa Youth World Cup, which is being held in India, has been exempted from GST.