GST rate cut to be effective from tomorrow, i.e. 22 September, and over 375 goods and services will become cheaper. The major rate rationalisation, approved by the GST Council earlier this year, reduces the tax structure from four slabs to just two, 5 per cent and 18 per cent. A special 40 per cent rate will apply on a select list of luxury and sin goods.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had described the reform as a “Diwali gift” for consumers, saying the move will not only lower costs for the middle class but also make business operations smoother under GST. “This reform is not just about rationalising rates. It is also about ease of living and structural reforms. We have reduced slabs to just two and addressed issues related to compensation cess,” FM Sitharaman had said.

Price cuts

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