“Beginner's Guide to GST in India – For Small Businesses and Freelancers”
What is GST? GST (Goods and Services Tax) is a unified indirect tax levied on the supply of goods and services across India. It has replaced various indirect taxes like VAT, service tax, and excise duty. Goods and services are divided into 5 different tax slabs for collection of tax: 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. However, petroleum products , alcoholic beverages , and electricity are not taxed under GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual state governments , as per the previous tax system. There is a special rate of 0.25% on rough precious and semi-precious stones and 3% on gold . In addition a cess of 22% or other rates on top of 28% GST applies on several items like aerated drinks, luxury cars and tobacco products. Pre-GST, the statutory tax rate for most goods was about 26.5%; post-GST, most goods are expected to be in the 18% tax range. The tax came into effect from 1 July 2017 t...