Live Updates on New GST Rates: When GST 2.0 goes into effect, food, cars, and televisions all get cheaper.

GST Reforms 2025 List: Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms have become effective today, September 22, marking a historical shift in the country’s indirect taxation by merging four slabs into two (5% and 18%) and a special tax slab of 40% for “sin goods".The GST council, led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, early in September announced a major overhaul in the indirect taxation system, aimed at simplifying the slabs, boosting the consumption and rationalizing the rates.

Under the new plan, the government is set to merge the four slabs into two main categories with an additional “sin tax" bracket: 5% slab — for essential goods. 18% slab – for most other goods and services. 40% slab – for luxury and sin goods such as tobacco, alcohol, betting, and online gaming. This consolidation is expected to make tax compliance easier and also reduce prices on many items currently taxed at 12% or 28%.This consolidation is expected to make tax compliance easier and also reduce prices on many items currently taxed at 12% or 28%.Consumers will see essential items becoming cheaper from September 22, as several sectors from FMCG to Auto have announced earlier to pass on the benefits of lower GST to them.