New GST Rates List Live Updates: GST 2.0 Comes Into Effect Today

New GST Rates List Live Updates: GST 2.0, a major overhaul in the indirect tax system of the country, has come into effect today, September 22, decreasing tax on essential items to boost consumption nationwide and rationalising rates on other products. Termed as GST Bachat Utsav (savings festival), coinciding with the first day of Navratri, products from groceries to electronics have become cheaper from today on account of lower GST. 

The 56th GST council, led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has merged the previous four slabs into two main categories with an additional “sin tax” bracket:

• 5% slab — for essential goods.
• 18% slab – for most other goods and services.
• 40% slab – for luxury and sin goods such as tobacco, alcohol, betting, and online gaming.

This consolidation is expected to make tax compliance easier and also reduce prices on many items currently taxed at 12% or 28%.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation on Sunday ahead of the implementation of GST 2.0, said that people will save Rs 2.5 lakh crore, with the combined benefit of the goods and services tax (GST) cuts and the earlier Income Tax reduction.

PM Modi congratulated people on the GST Bachat Utsav (savings festival) kicking off on September 22 — the first day of Navratri. “GST Bachat Utsav would lead to savings and people will be able to purchase things easily,” he said.

PM Modi said that since 2014, GST has been a top priority, as reforms are continuous and need to adapt to the nation’s evolving needs. Before the rollout of GST 2.0, goods transported across states in India faced multiple hurdles, including a maze of documentation, numerous check posts, and differing tax systems at every location, said the PM in his address. He emphasised that these complexities often slowed business and increased costs.