This GST-based app helps you find rates of GST on purchases

GST Rates Finder app has been recently launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to help verify the correctness of GST charged on any purchase. "This mobile app helps users to find rates of GST for various goods and services. It can be downloaded on any smartphone and can work in offline mode, once downloaded. The user can determine the GST rate for a good or a service by entering the name or chapter heading of the commodity or service," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The GST Rates Finder app, which is now available on Android platform, will soon be available on iOS platform as well.

GST rate finder app: How to use and download

To download the GST Rates Finder app, simply head to Google Play Store on your mobile phone or Android tablet, and search for GST Rates Finder.

Search results on the GST Rates Finder app will list all the goods and services containing the name which was typed in the search box. The user can scroll down the list of description and when any specific item on the list is clicked, the display window will pop-up, containing details such as GST rate, description of goods or services and the chapter heading of the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN). For example, any person who has been billed by a hotel or a restaurant or for footwear can cross verify the correctness of the rate of GST charged.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has also provided a GST rate finder on its portal cbec-gst.gov.in to help the taxpayers know the applicable GST rate on their supplies of goods and services.

A taxpayer can search for applicable Central GST, State GST, Union Territory GST rate and Compensation Cess on a supply. The search can be made based on the description of goods or services or HSN chapter or section or heading number.

"These initiatives are aimed to serve as a ready reckoner on GST rates. This will empower not only the taxpayers but every citizen of the nation, to ascertain the correct GST rate on goods and services," the statement said.