Following items under registered brand name and put in unit container are taxable @ 5%
- Tender Coconut Water
- Organic Manure
- Chenna or Paneer
- Natural Honey
- Wheat and Meslin
- Wheat and Meslin flour
- Rye
- Barley
- Oats
- Maize
- Rice
- Grain Sorghum
- Buck Wheat
- Cereal Flours
- Cereal groats, meal and pellets
- Flour, of potatoes
- Flour, of the dried leguminous vegetables
If the above items are put in unit container but not supplied in registered brand name, then tax rate is NIL. Also even if the above items are in registered brand name but not put in unit container still the tax rate is NIL. Hence for above items being exigible to tax, they should be both in registered brand name and put in unit container.
The phrase “unit container” means a package, whether large or small (for example, tin, can, box, jar, bottle, bag, or carton, drum, barrel, or canister) designed to hold a pre- determined quantity or number, which is indicated on such package[Explanation (i) of 1/2017-CTR]
Comments: Hence if quantity held in package is not indicated on the package, still tax rate shall be NIL.
The phrase “registered brand name” means brand name or trade name, that is to say, a name or a mark, such as symbol, monogram, label, signature or invented word or writing which is used in relation to such specified goods for the purpose of indicating, or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between such specified goods and some person using such name or mark with or without any indication of the identity of that person, and which is registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 [Explanation (ii) of 1/2017-CTR]
Comments:
- Indication of identity also gets covered
- Name of mark registered in foreign country is not covered above
- Name or mark registered under Copy rights Act is not covered.
GST Council Decision dated 09-09-2017
The issue of avoidance of 5% GST on pulses, cereals and flours, put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name, was also discussed by the GST Council. After detailed deliberations, the Council recommended that the following amendments may be made to the existing Notifications, so as to provide that:
1) A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 shall be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST, irrespective of whether or not such brand is subsequently deregistered.
2) A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under the Copyright Act, 1957 shall also be treated as a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST.
3) A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under any law for the time being in force in any other country shall also be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. [Hence brands registered in foreign country shall also be covered under registered brand name]
4) A mark or name in respect of which actionable claim is available shall be deemed to be a registered brand name for the purposes of levy of 5% GST.
Press Release dated 20-09-2017
– Notifications for giving effect to above are expected to be issued on 22nd September 2017
– 5% rate against name or mark shall not apply if the person concerned voluntarily foregoes any actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name, subject to the conditions that he:
a) files an affidavit to the effect that he is voluntarily foregoing his actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name with the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Tax or State Tax, or the jurisdictional officer of Union Territory Tax, as the case may be, and
b) prints in indelible ink, both in English and local language on each such unit container, that in respect of brand name printed on the unit containers he has voluntarily foregone his actionable claim or enforceable right.