The long awaited change in the age-old tax system in India finally happened with the launch of Goods & Services Tax regime on 1st of July 2017. Since the launch of GST, there’s a long list of so-called experts have been debating the viability and effect of the new tax regime on Indian Economy. However, there is a lot of confusion over it to the common public. To their credit, Government of India is doing its best to educated people about GST both offline and online. Still, there’s a lot to be desired when educating people about a subject as complex as taxation. However, at the start, as end consumers, all we need to know is how GST is going to affect the prices of goods and services we use on a daily basis. So, if you were wondering about that, here’s how to find GST rates of any product in India:
Find GST on Products Using The GST Rate Finder App
There are a lot of online websites and blogs which can help you look at the rates of products under GST, but they might contain misinformation as there’s still a lot of confusion over the subject. That’s why the best place to start will be to obtain information from the government itself. However, it is hard to visit the official website to obtain information as most of the time the information is obscured and buried beneath a ton of noise. Understanding this problem, GoI launched an app which helps people find the taxation rate of products under GST. The app is available for free on Android and the government plans on launching an iPhone app soon.
The app is fairly simple with two main sub-menus; Tax Rates for Goods and Tax Rates for services. Tapping on the menu will show you the different tax brackets of the GST, tapping on which will show you all the goods or services falling under that tax bracket.
If you don’t know which category your queries lie in, just hit the search icon at the bottom right and type your item. For instance, I searched for phone and received six different results. Tapping on the relevant result will show you the category and the taxation rate of the item as shown in the figure.
This is a very handy app to learn about the taxation brackets under which your requisite goods or services fall. Also, since this is the official app, you can be sure that the information is a 100% correct.
Find GST Rates Using GST Awareness Campaign
If you rather like to have an on-hand experience about the GST and want to learn a little bit more about it than just the tax rates, GoI is also carrying out a lot of workshops around the country. You can attend any such workshop being carried out in your area. The workshops not only focuses on the consumer side of things but also on the small to medium size businesses. If you own a business, you should surely visit and attend the workshop at least once, as it will help you remain on top of your tax filing procedures. You can visit the official website and see for yourself if there’s any upcoming workshop in your area. As far as I could find, there’s no registration process, you just need to note the date and address and visit the venue on the same.
Stay Updated on GST with GST India
If you like to remain informed about the daily happenings in the news surrounding the topic of GST, the GST India website is a must follow. It acts as an archive of anything and everything which is being published daily on the topic of GST by various websites and media outlets. It won’t help you much in the regards of information gathering but will surely keep you in the know how of the everyday reaction of the media on the subject. Conversely, you will also be one of the first people to know about any changes or clarification issued by the GoI on GST as it will be heavily covered by the media and you will surely find that here. Apart from written content, you can also find the links to videos in the video section which sources it content from YouTube. As said earlier, the website will serve more of a discussion room than a classroom.
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Find Out The Taxation Rates Under GST
Use the above website and apps to get clarity about the taxation rates under GST. GST overall is a very good tax reform, which India needed to get implemented yesterday. But, better late than never. In conclusion, I would like a to make a point that, do not believe everything (negative or positive) you read or hear about it on GST. First get an informed perspective and then judge the new law. If you have any doubts about the subject, please let us know in the comment section below.
