Changes to the hotel and restaurant tax structure, which will take effect on April 1, 2025, have been announced by the GST Council. By eliminating the idea of a "declared tariff" and tying GST rates to actual room tariffs, the amendments seek to make compliance easier. To meet their business objectives, hotels can select from a variety of GST arrangements. Find out how the hospitality industry will be affected by these developments and what hotels need to do to get ready.

The Indian GST structure saw substantial modifications as a consequence of the 54th GST Council Meeting, which was presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 9, 2024. Important results included lower GST rates for medications used in cancer treatment, lower rates for certain foods, and a new GST rate for helicopter services. The introduction of e-invoicing for B2C transactions and the need for clarifications regarding input tax credit were also discussed at the discussion. The Council underlined the need of stakeholder engagement to guarantee that future changes are advantageous and sustainable for the economy, even though several decisions were postponed for more study.

Instead of paying tax on each transaction, small firms can opt for the GST Composition Scheme, which is a tax payment scheme that allows them to pay a predetermined proportion of their sales as tax. The purpose of this program is to facilitate small business operations and lessen the burden of compliance for them.

The comparison between the Old Tax Regime and the New Tax Regime for Assessment Year 2025-26 revolves around the flexibility and trade-offs offered to taxpayers in terms of tax rates, deductions, and exemptions. Introduced in the Budget 2020, the New Tax Regime provides reduced income tax rates across various income brackets, up to INR 15,00,000, compared to the existing Old Regime. However, the New Regime eliminates 70 tax exemptions and deductions available under the Old Regime.