GST Council meet: Soft drinks, caffeinated beverages to get more expensive

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday decided to hike the tax rate on caffeinated drinks at the GST Council meet. Tax levied on caffeinated drinks has been increased to 28 per cent from 18 per cent, reports mention. On top of that 12 per cent of cess would be charged under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules.

Following this, soft drinks, energy drinks and other caffeinated beverages will get costly from hereon.

The GST Council has also reportedly given relief to the hotel industry. According to sources, hotels with tariff of Rs 7,500 and above will be taxed at 18 per cent, whereas those with tariff below Rs 7,500 will be taxed at 12 per cent. However, hotels with tariffs below Rs 1,000 will not be taxed.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 37th GST Council Meet in Goa today. She was accompanied by Minister of State Anurag Thakur and Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh along with CM of Goa, finance ministers of states and UTs. 

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