GST on cinema tickets slashed, many items brought down to 18 percent slab

Cinema-goers across the country can now hope to find some relief as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on cinema tickets was slashed by the Government of India.

The decision was announced in the 31st meeting of the GST Council which took place in New Delhi on Saturday. The meeting which was convened with an aim to bring down the highest ceiling of GST to 18 percent from the present rate of 28 percent, saw the attendance of representatives from all Indian states and union territories. 

The GST on cinema tickets priced above Rs 100 has been reduced from 28 percent to 18 percent and the GST on cinema tickets priced below Rs 100 has been slashed from 18 percent to 12 percent. Apart from movie tickets, many other items also saw tax rate cuts. The full list of the items whose GST were slashed are given below.

• GST on Transmission shafts including cam shafts and crank shafts and cranks (excluding crankshaft for sewingmachine), gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings including universal joints has been reduced from 28 percent to 18 percent.
• GST on TV Sets of upto 32 inches (both LED and LCD screens), monitors and projectors, not incorporating television reception apparatus; reception apparatus for television, whether or not incorporating radio-broadcast receiver or sound or video recording or reproducing apparatus [other than computer monitors not exceeding 20 inches, set top box for television and Television set (including LCD and LED television) of screen size not exceeding 68 cm] has been brought down to 18 percent from the present rate of 28 percent.
• GST on Electric accumulators has been cut to 18 percent from 28 percent.
• GST on Digital cameras and video camera recorders other than CCTV has been slashed to 18 percent from 28 percent.
• Retreaded or used tyres and flaps will now suffer GST at 18 percent instead of 28 percent.
• GST on articles and accessories for billiards will be 18 percent instead of 28 percent.
• Motorcycle and wheelchair spare parts will now have a GST of 5 percent instead of 28 percent.
• GST on Natural cork, debacked or roughly squared, or in rectangular (including square) blocks, plates, sheets or strip (including sharp-edged blanks for corks or stoppers) has been reduced to 12 percent from the current rate of 18 percent.
• Articles of natural cork such as Corks and Stoppers, Shuttlecock cork bottom will now have a GST of 12 percent, reduced from the present rate of 18 percent.
• GST on Agglomerated cork (with or without a binding substance) and articles of agglomerated cork will henceforth be 12 percent instead of 18 percent.
• Fly ash blocks will be charged a GST of 5 percent instead of 12 percent.
• GST on Walking sticks has been reduced to 5 percent from the present rate of 12 percent.
• GST on Natural cork, raw or simply prepared has been slashed to 5 percent from 12 percent.
• No GST will be charged on Music books, printed or in manuscript, whether or not bound or illustrated. The present GST rate on these items is 12 percent.
• No GST will be charged on Vegetables (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen. Current GST on these items is 5 percent.
• No GST will be charged on Vegetables provisionally preserved. Present rate of GST on these items is 5 percent.
• No GST on Gold (including gold plated with platinum) unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form. This has been reduced from the current rate of 3 percent.
• GST on Footwear has been modified to a flat rate of 12 percent irrespective of the type of footwear. The mandatory rule to display the MRP on the footwear has also been scrapped.