"In order to benefit small businesses and consumers, the council has decided to keep only limited items in the 28 per cent tax slab," Jaitley said. The move will ensure a level playing field.Eating out is set to get cheaper with the council deciding to slash GST rate for the sector to 5 per cent without any input tax credit. Restaurants, at present, face three rates depending on the category they are in.Air-conditioned restaurants face 18 per cent tax with input credit while non-air-conditioned ones pay 12 per cent .The group of ministers looking into the taxation for the sector had recommended 12 per cent tax rate with input tax credit. But some states and the Centre were not in favour of allowing input tax credit. "The council had a long discussion on the issue... Everyone agreed that restaurants that got input tax credit have not passed it on to consumers," Jaitley said.

Source: Economic Times November 10, 2017 08:48 UTC