GST Council raises cess on cigarettes to fix anomaly under GST

The goods and services tax (GST) Council raised the cess on cigarettes Monday to address an anomaly under the new regime that had resulted in lower tax incidence than before. The move will raise the prices of cigarettes that had fallen under the GST regime, which rolled out July 1. Cigarette maker ITC had been the biggest gainer from the anomaly with its stock rising nearly 10% from end-June level…