Tax rates for subsidised kerosene & cooking gas rose up to 5%: Oil Ministry

NEW DELHI: The effective tax rates for subsidised kerosene and cooking gas rose up to 5% but fell on average 10-12% for most other oil products such as fuel oil, naphtha and lubricants under the freshly rolled out Goods and Services Tax ( GST), an analysis by the Oil Ministry showed.

For subsidised cooking gas used by households, the effective tax rates went up by 4-5% in several states including Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, J&K, Goa and Chhattisgarh. In many other states, tax rates remained unchanged or rose just a bit. The GST rate is 5% on domestic cooking gas, and 18% on non-domestic gas. In most states, the effective tax rates have fallen 3-6% on non-domestic cooking gas although in some states the rates have marginally risen too.

The effective tax rate on subsidised kerosene, which attracts 5% rate under GST, has swelled 3-5% in several states including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Jharkhand and Haryana. For kerosene used for industrial purpose, which attracts 18% GST, the effective tax rate has shrunk 10-12% in most states.

The effective tax rate has substantially fallen in most states for fuel oil, naphtha, light diesel oil, bitumen and lubricants, all of which attract 18% GST. On average, the decline in effective tax rates under GST in most states is 12-13% for fuel oil, naphtha and lubes. The fall varies between 10-20% for light diesel oil. In case of bitumen, the decline is mostly limited to less than 2%.