These food items are exempted from GST when sold loose: See full list

New Delhi, July 19: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has exempted from GST a number of items of daily use in the food category if they are sold loose. These items however will only attract GST when sold pre-packed or pre-labeled. The information was shared by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The FM tweeted that certain items including pulses/daal, wheat, rye, oats, maize, rice, aatta/flour, suji/rawa, besan, puffed rice, curd/lassi when sold loose and non pre-packed or pre-labeled, will not attract any GST.

For example, items like pulses, cereals like rice, wheat, and flour (aata), etc., earlier attracted GST at the rate of 5% when branded and packed in unit container (as mentioned above). With effect from 18.7.2022, these items would attract GST when "pre-packaged and labelled". Only a few items, namely, Curd, Lassi, puffed rice etc. have been added to the list.

Essentially, this is a change in modalities of imposition of GST on branded specified goods to "pre-packaged and labelled" specified goods.

This was a unanimous decision by GST Council. All states were present in GST Council, when this issue was presented by the Group of Minister on Rate rationalisation, in the 47th meeting held in Chandigarh on 28th Jun, 22. Each and every state, including non-BJP (Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nādu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala) agreed with the decision.

The member states of the Group of Ministers, which recommended this change, are West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Bihar. It was headed by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. GoM had carefully considered this proposal and taking into account the taxa leakage and misuse of provision of branding (as discussed) below, recommended this change.

Recently, the GST council in its 47th meeting had recommended to reconsider the approach for imposition of GST on specified food items like pulses, cereals, flour and other edible products.