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The government has notified additional rates of excise duty on tobacco and ‘Health Security se National Security Cess’ on pan masala. This marks a transition from the earlier compensation cess levy under the original GST regime to now the imposition of additional duties over and above the 40 per cent slab under GST 2.0. The new rates will be applicable from February 1. The excise duty on cigarettes ranging between Rs 2,050-8,500 per thousand sticks will be levied over and above the 40 per cent rate. The ‘Health Security se National Security Cess’ on pan masala is proposed to be 48 per cent. These rates are replacing the old central excise rates of 5 per cent with effect from February 1. The new structure would be 40 per cent GST + new central excise duty + existing NCCD duty, a Finance Ministry official said. While there will be a 18 per cent GST on biri, other tobacco products such as cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, or tobacco or of tobacco substitutes will face a 40 per cent GST rate. Pan masala, too, will attract 40 per cent GST. “The GST Council decided to increase the GST rate on pan masala from 28 per cent to the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent, and therefore the remaining portion of the existing tax burden is being shifted to the machine-based cess under the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025. The calibrated rates under the cess ensure that the combined incidence of GST and the new cess remains broadly equivalent to the current incidence of GST plus compensation cess,” an official said. As per the current GST structure for pan masala, a GST rate of 28 per cent was levied along with a cess of 60 per cent, taking the total levy to 88 per cent. Now, with the new cess rate of 48 per cent, and a 40 per cent GST rate, the total levy amounts to 88 per cent, Finance Ministry sources said. For tobacco, the excise duty on hukkah has been notified to be 33 per cent, while a rate of 60.5 per cent has been notified for homogenised tobacco, preparations containing chewing tobacco and snuff. The duty rate is higher at 82 per cent for chewing tobacco and jarda scented tobacco. Smoking mixtures for pipes and cigarettes will attract 279 per cent duty. The central excise duty on chewing tobacco, jarda scented tobacco and gutkha, when manufactured with the aid of a packing machine and packed in pouches, will be levied on the basis of capacity of production from February 1. Stocks of major cigarette companies slumped on Thursday in reaction to the levy of additional duties. ITC share price closed at Rs 363.95, down 9.69 per cent from the previous close, while share price of Godfrey Phillips India ended 17.17 per cent down at Rs 2,288 on BSE. Industry estimates have pegged the increase in additional levies to be 20-30 per cent, an expert, who did not wish to be named, said. The central government had last month introduced two legislations in Parliament to bring in higher excise levy on tobacco and related products, and the ‘Health Security se National Security Cess’ on pan masala. The levies have been brought in as the GST compensation cess is set to lapse after March 2026. Under GST, as per the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, states were guaranteed compensation at the compounded rate of 14 per cent from the base year 2015-16 for losses arising due to implementation of the taxation regime for five years since its rollout. While the five-year compensation period ended in June 2022, the government had notified the extension of the levy and collection of compensation cess till March 2026 for repayment of loans meant to compensate states for the five-year period since July 2017 rollout.

Posted on January 1, 2026

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