GST department has reportedly sent summons to several restaurants over levy paid on ‘packaging charges,’ an Economic Times report said on Monday. The GST officials are investigating whether the eateries listed on food apps such as Swiggy and Zomato have escaped the tax on packaging charges or not.

The ET report said that most of the restaurants in question have been asked to share GST details regarding packaging charges since January 2022. The development comes amid buzz around GST authorities mulling over plans of imposing new five percent tax on food apps.

If that’s the scenario then provider must pay GST to the state coffers while recovering it from consumers ordering food on such online platform for the all three – food, delivery as well as packaging.

Previously, there was a strong buzz around the government coming up with five percent additional tax on food apps. However, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, recently clarified during the Budget Session of Parliament that ‘as of now’, the officials are not planning any such move.

Source: Money Control