Background:
The GST Council in its 55th meeting held on December 21, 2024, recommended several significant decisions aimed at tax rate changes, trade facilitation, and compliance streamlining under GST. Among the major recommendations announced, the council recommended to reduced the rate on Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK) to 5% comprising 2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST.
Now:
The CBIC issued Notification No. 01/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated January 16, 2025, to amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”). This amendment, authorized under sections 9(1) and 15(5) of the CGST Act, brings modifications to base Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax Rate dated June 28, 2017 (“the Goods Rate Notification”).
According to the notification, a 2.5% CGST rate has been levied on Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK) conforming to the S. No. and enteries as 98B and 1904, respectively. The effective GST rate for this item will now be 5%, comprising 2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST.
The specific amendment pertains to Schedule I – 2.5% of the said notification.
There are the key changes:
- in the Schedule I – 2.5%, after S. No. 98A and the entries relating thereto, the following S. No. and entries shall be inserted, namely: –
| “98B | 1904 | Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK)”; |
- in the Schedule III – 9%, against S. No. 15, in column (3), after the words “commonly known as Murki”, the words “, Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK)” shall be inserted;
- after the Schedule VII, in the Explanation, for clause (ii) and the proviso appended to it, the following clause shall be substituted, namely: –
“(ii) The expression ‘pre-packaged and labelled’ means all commodities that are intended for retail sale and containing not more than 25 kg or 25 litre, which are ‘pre-packed’ as defined in clause (l) of section 2 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010) where, the package in which the commodity is pre-packed or a label securely affixed thereto is required to bear the declarations under the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010) and the rules made thereunder.”
The notification declares that these changes will be come into force with immediate effect.
Similar notifications have been passed under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the IGST Act”) and the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the UTGST Act”).
The Notifications can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CBIC-N.No_.-01_2025-CUI-Rate.pdf
