GST rate on mass consumption items cut to 18% from highest slab of 28%

The GST Council today decided to reduce tax rate on a wide range of mass use items from chewing gums to detergents to 18 per cent from current 28 per cent. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said this in Guwahati, where the full GST council meeting headed by Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley, is deliberating on to review the impact of the new tax regime. PTI reports quoting Sushil Modi that the council pruned the list of items attracting the top 28 per cent tax rate to just 50 from 227 previously. In effect, the council, in its 23rd meet today, cut rates on 177 goods. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), implemented "from July 1, has five tax slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.