Whether you are a ballet lover or a fan of amusement parks — from water parks to merry-go-round — it has just cheaper for you as the GST Council has reduced the tax rate on admission to these from the higher slab of 28% to 18%. The GST Council, in its 25th meeting, had recommended the reduction of GST rate on services by way of admission to Amusement Parks including theme parks, water parks, joy rides, merry-go-rounds, go-carting and ballet from 28% to 18%, a Finance Ministry statement said.
In the last meeting, the GST Council had announced tax rate reduction on 29 items and 54 services. The ministry further said that it expects states/panchayats to pass the benefit of rate reduction children and families by not raising the tax on entertainment and amusement levied at the local level.
Besides, the Council also notified increasing tax exemption limit on tickets worth Rs 500 from earlier Rs 250 per person for the circus, dance, drama theatrical performances, award functions, pageants, concerts, musical performances, and some sporting events.
To promote affordable housing, the Finance Ministry also notified extending the concessional rate of 12% GST for construction of houses under the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) and asked builders to not charge GST from homebuyers as it can be adjusted with the input tax credit. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said that the GST Council wants to limit the 28% tax slab only for sin or demerit goods and slowly will continue to tax rates on items that are left under the highest tax bracket.
In November, the GST Council announced a massive tax rate cut on 177 items and brought down tax rates on all restaurants to 5% without input tax credit. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1 last and under the new indirect tax regime, the goods and services are taxed under nil, 5%, 3%, 12%, 18%, 28% and 28% plus cess.