Printed books are exempted from tax, as per the entry in the Chapter 49. Now, I want to know, whether "Printing of Books " with own materials (not job works) like text books is Exempted. Is there any difference between "Printed Books" and "Printing of Books"? Whether it's Supply of Goods or Services?

Alternatively, can we charge 5% GST on Printing of books and input tax on papers, which is taxable @ 12% GST?

@ Mr. Sudhakar go through this to clarify

https://howtoexportimport.com/How-much-rate-of-GST-for-printed-books-newspapers--5616.aspx

respected Nitin Kotak sir and Sudhakar sir.
mai bahut confused hu printing press business Ko lekar...pls sir send your mobile number or call me. 97076 98837
Akash Gupta
Akash offset
Tezpur
Assam

sir if the registered person providing job work to the registered buyer (Printing charges only) and party given own paper & Boards. Is it covered under Goods or Service/.What is the tax rate?

Mr. Hariharan

GST Rates for Printing Industry as finalized by GST Council

Zero Tax

Printed Books,including Braille books andNewspaper,periodicals & Journals ,Maps,atlas,chart & globeNewspapers,journals and periodicals,whether or not illustrated or containing advertising materialMaps and hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds, including atlases,wall maps,topographical plans and globes,printed

5% Slab

Brochures,leaflets and similar printed matter,whether or not in single sheets

sir press ke every product pe HSN code lagta hai....phir to ye goods manufacturer huwa na.....agar mere press me banay huwa bill books ya kuch aur items sac code lagta to ye service hota.

Agar SAC hei tho vo Service ke andar ayega varna uskeliye HSN hoga jise Sales/Manufacture ke andar ayega.

thankyou sir

you're welcome

Dear Basantji,

Printing press are covered in SERVICES and service cannot comes in composition scheme except Restaurant

So Mr. Inderesh apart from Restaurant no one can claim under composition scheme then? thanks for bringing it up.

Pls read carefully attached

Rgds.

Well Said Sir....

GST Blues: Book trouble due to slump in production - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

By Noel D'Cunha,

22 July 2017

Most book printers across India have not raised an invoice in July. Publishers are continuing to raise purchase orders at old rates. Top GST consultants are advising printers not to charge any GST. The same consultants are asking publishers not to accept any cost escalations.

Two top book print firms in West and South India say we will bill at zero per cent GST. 

A big player in North is charging nine per cent which is net of taxes.

Vasant Goel of Gopsons is categorical that it is 18 per cent. His explanation is that the GST matter can be solved by law. The current classification clearly defines printing as manufacturing service. The job work is defined at 5% GST, otherwise, it is 18%.

Like Vasant Goel, Rajnish Shirsat, co-founder, and CEO, R&S Enterprises, says, “Book printers have been hit. If a printer is producing job work then it's 5%. If a book printer is in manufacturing then it's 18%. So, it's a wait-and-watch game as one is expecting a revision or else it's going to affect printers.”

The point is, as in all cases book printers remain divided.

At the moment, the only work that's happening in the book print segment is the government textbook printing – and that too the tail-end of the orders. This is because most schools have opened.

The private educational publishers had completed the season before GST – so they will have the time to plan ahead for their next season by which time GST impact would become clear.

Trade book printing is in shambles. A commercial printer who specialises in book work has clocked not more than three-lakh rupees of business in the 20 days of July. A book expert who spoke to PrintWeek India, says, "I don’t know if book releases are getting delayed. It will be worth checking with some of the publishers."

A huge difference of opinion

Thomas Abraham, Hachette India

At the moment, book printers are claiming either 5% or 18% for this; and the industry is split in its opinion.There is a difference of opinion between book printers and publishers. The publishers like Thomas Abraham, the CEO, Hachette India state that their book print partners have stated there is “a 5% plus increase in material cost due to GST.” Many publishers are of the view that the impact of cost increase should be absorbed by printers wherever they have unit price contracts.

Rajnish Shirsat says, “Recovery within 90 days will be tough which will result in printers not getting input credit, paying by themselves and any delay will attract 15% penalty. The situation is grim,” he concludes.Most of the leading book printers have either not printed in July or not billed; either way indicating a massive slowdown.

Rajnish Shirsat, R&S Enterprise

Two contrary views

One view is that the books should have been taxed so that the whole value chain would have benefitted and there would have been no confusions. It could have brought in margins which were not available in the past.

But then the central government would not get "the mileage of doing a noble job on GST."

The contrarian view is that if they were taxed the benefits would have never come to the reader. In the current situation, as every link is getting squeezed for margins, there would be more efficiency and the consumer will benefit from this.

Publishers are meeting government officials and seeking a revision of the rule. They hope to get "some clarity in the month of August."

Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, says in her article on Scroll.in, “But why should publishers not get the same benefit that other industries will get? As with the older Value Added Tax, the GST also includes the concept of Input Tax Credits (ITC). Put simply, this means that the seller of the final product has to pay GST at the prevailing rate, but can claim credits on all the GST already paid by his suppliers. In this scenario, the publisher would have been able to claim ITC on the GST paid to its suppliers – had there been a GST on the books it’s selling.”