Taxmann, a research website for tax and corporate laws, has launched a new tool to find the GST rates applicable for different dates. From July 1, 2017, the GST regime, which came into force, has 7 rates for goods: Nil, 0.25, 3, 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent, and 5 rates for services: Nil, 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent. Since July 2017, these rates have been frequently changed. Ansh Bhargava, Director, Taxmann.com, says, “This tool has been developed because appellate authorities and revenue would require the historical GST rates during assessments and appellate proceedings”.
India follows the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) developed by the Worlds Customs Organization (WCO), for easy and systematic classification of GST rates of goods. HSN contains eight digits uniform code that classifies 5,000+ products and it is accepted worldwide. For the classification of services, 6 digits Services Accounting Code (SAC) is followed by India.
Unlike Excise and Customs, the Govt. did not specify the HSN wise GST rates for goods. Taxmann has minutely analyzed the rate notification issued by the Government for the GST rates and has mapped every rate with the applicable HSN Code or SAC Code. Since July 1, 2017, the date on which GST was implemented, the GST rates for goods and services have been amended more than 10 times. If one has to identify the historical GST rate for any good or service, it would be nearly impossible for him to get the precise rate applicable on any particular date.
To overcome this challenge, Taxmann has launched a new feature for its subscribers wherein they can see the applicable GST rate on any particular date since July 1, 2017. The subscriber shall simply enter the relevant data and this tool quickly fetches the rate applicable for that good or service on the selected date.