Khadi yarn, Gandhi topi, national flag exempted from GST tax regime

All categories of fabric, except khadi yarn, Gandhi topi, India’s national flag will not attract any tax under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The tax department has also put up on its website the list of items which would be exempt from the Integrated GST (IGST) under multilateral or bilateral commitments in respect of imports by privileges persons, organisations, authorities and foreigners.

The IGST is a tax which will be levied by the Centre on inter-state movement of goods and services. It is not a new tax since the credit for IGST payment can be claimed while paying the CGST or SGST.

Clothing and blankets, imported by a charitable organisation as free gift to it from abroad and meant for free distribution to the poor and the needy have been exempt from the IGST. Besides, goods imported by the Red Cross Society for purposes of relief to distressed persons

Besides, exemptions have been given for research equipment imported by public funded research institutions or a university or an Indian Institute of Technology or Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore or Regional Engineering College, Research institutions, other than a hospital, Departments and laboratories of the Central Government and State Government, other than a hospital, and Regional Cancer Center (Cancer Institute).

Govt starts GST awareness drive for consumers The government has started its media blitzkrieg to tell the common man that the upcoming GST will reduce prices of most goods. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in advertisements in leading dailies gave pictorial representations of items which are exempt from Goods and Services Tax and the ones which would attract lower tax of 5 percent.

GST, which will subsume 16 different levies, will be rolled out from July 1. Major textile industry bodies on Sunday welcomed the decision of fixing reasonable GST rates to most of the categories and thanked Union Finance minister, Arun Jaitley for initiating faster decisions on the subject.

Regional Chairman Federation of Indian Exporters’ Organisation (FIEO) Southern Region, A Shaktivel said that the lower GST rates across the products which are having high export potential will go a long way in promoting “Make in India”.

On textile, A Shaktivel said that announcement of lower rates of GST for Fabrics, Natural Fibre, Apparels and Made-ups will enable increased value addition, employment and exports and propel domestic production across the sectors.

Sakthivel also said that the simplified procedure of job works by allowing movement of goods by Challan only will go a long way in developing supporting eco system much needed for garment industry s competitiveness.

Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) also thanked Jaitley for considering the requisition and helping to fix GST rate at five percent for garments including cotton, cotton yarn and fabrics.

Indian textile industry is estimated at 120 billion dollars worth today, can reach 230 billion dollars by 2020, if further focus was given, export of raw materials including fibre and yarn can be replaced with more value added products.