Industry body seeks tax equality on branded\, non-branded snacks

Industry body seeks tax equality on branded, non-branded snacks

At present 12 per cent, GST is charged on branded snacks, while on non-branded products it is only 5 per cent, and the federation wants it to be brought down to 5 per cent

The Federation of Sweets & Namkeen Manufacturers on Friday demanded parity in goods and services tax (GST) rates on branded and non-branded snacks.

At present 12 per cent, GST is charged on branded snacks, while on non-branded products it is only 5 per cent, and the federation wants it to be brought down to 5 per cent.

"This anomaly has been increasing the complexities for traders and encouraging unhealthy competition. Some large big players have already started producing non-branded snacks today to take advantage of the tax benefit," federation's treasurer Firoz Naqvi told reporters here.

"So there should be equal GST on both branded and non-branded snacks," he said.

Naqvi said the federation is organizing a world sweets and snacks convention here from January 9-10, which will have around 3,000 delegates from the US, Germany, Turkey, China etc attending it.

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