The government believes that the new GST move will put an end to tax evasion by restaurants, who were hitherto responsible for collecting and depositing the tax on online orders.
If you are planning to ring in the New Year tomorrow by ordering food through platforms like Swiggy and Zomato, don’t be surprised if you are asked to pay more. For, starting tomorrow, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) changes kick in, and food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato are mandated to collect and pay the GST on behalf of all restaurants. As ever with tax changes in India, there is a bit of confusion in this one too. Currently, all cooked food orders sold by restaurants (via food aggregators) invites a 5% GST. That is over and above the 18% GST that all foods get levied at the restaurant. The onus of paying the 5% GST was hitherto with the restaurants. Now that responsibility has changed to the food delivery platforms.
