From Monday, tax increases will kick in for a number of goods and services ranging from unbranded packaged food items, milk and curd, to hospital rooms with rents above Rs 5,000.

Last month, the Goods and Services Tax Council decided to rationalise rates to remove the inverted duty structure where tax on inputs were higher than the final product.

Opposition leaders have raised concerns about the higher tax rates announced by the GST Council, saying it will put an additional burden on households.

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India’s retail inflation came down to 7.04% year-on-year in May, after touching an eight-year high of 7.79% in April. However, the price rise indicator remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band of 6% for a fifth month in a row.

“The elected representatives who are part of the Council are conscious of inflation,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said on June 29 when asked if the GST rate changes could feed into the high inflation.

Here is a list of good and services liable to 18% GST

  • Printing
  • LED lamps and lights
  • Knives, spoons, forks and ladles 
  • Water pumps, deep-tube well turbine pumps, submersible pumps
  • Dairy machinery
  • Tetra packs
  • Fees charged by banks for the issue of cheques (loose or in book form)
  • Services such as work contracts for roads, bridges, railways, metro, effluent treatment plants and crematoriums
  • E-waste

List of good and services liable for 12% GST

  • Solar water heaters
  • Hotels charging Rs 1,000 or less per day for stay
  • Tender coconut water  
  • Finished goods like leather products
  • Maps and charts, including atlases
  • Renting of trucks and goods carriages where the cost of fuel is included  
  • Bio-medical waste treatment facilities  

List of good and services liable to 5% GST

  • Curd, buttermilk and lassi  
  • Paneer
  • Organic food
  • Puffed rice
  • Oats
  • Single packages of food items such as cereals, pulses and flour weighing up to 25 kg
  • Hospital rooms with rent above Rs 5,000  
  • Ostomy appliances