Rahul Zaware: Confusion on the slab rate between 12% and 18%

What has been the impact of GST on your customers? How are your customers coping with multiple GST slabs, tracking of invoices and movement of goods across state borders?
I believe the initial confusion with systems and slab rates is slowly subsiding. We and our customers have now been able to regularise the process. There still seems to be confusion within the industry on the slab rate between 12% and 18%, which needs to be resolved.

Do you believe it’s in our best interest that all our (printing and packaging industry) the tangible products are covered under HSN (Goods) so that there is a greater chance of coming under the manufacturing sector and acquiring industry status?
With capital investments in machineries, there is no doubt our industry should be recognised under the manufacturing sector. We need to be recognised as an industry rather than a service provider. The entire print and packaging industry across all substrate and medium makes it the third largest industry in the world. It is because the industry is in an unorganised sector that we see our status being lowered down. There is no doubt that getting HSN status will be a morale boost. Also, until the GST regime came into place, we were covered under VAT and never under service tax.

The Ministry of Finance issued a Notification No.31/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 13 October 2017, which formalised the decisions regarding the GST rates at the 22nd Council meeting on 6 October 2017. Is there clarity, finally? Please name one thing on your wish-list for the Government
There still remains a dash of confusion and several questions to be answered. The tax structure if lowered down would be a great impetus to the industry and overall growth of our nation.