GST reforms to lower rates on 11 out of 30 top consumption items: Report

New Delhi, Sep 18: The new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates will benefit 11 of the top 30 consumption items and a third of an average consumer’s monthly expenditure, a report said on Thursday.

These 11 items include essential milk products, discretionary products (automobiles, beauty services) and goods, seeing a surge in demand over the past few years (processed food).

"Rough calculations indicate the simple average GST rate based on these top 30 consumption items falls from 11 per cent to 9 per cent under the new regime," Crisil Ratings said in its report.

The move is likely to improve purchasing power, especially for low-middle income segments, as the consumption-weighted average GST rate is lower in majority of food and household items and will attract either 0 per cent or a 5 tax rate.