‘Pizza toppings’ were trending on Twitter India. Here’s why

A recent ruling stated that pizza toppings should be taxed at a higher rate of 18% as compared to pizza, which is taxed at 5%, Avaneesh Parasar

A report on the fact that pizza toppings is set to attract more Goods and Services Tax (GST) than the pizza itself let to the very popular dish of Italian origin to trend for the longest on microblogging site Twitter for most parts of Tuesday.

A recent ruling stated that pizza toppings should be taxed at a higher rate of 18% as compared to pizza, which is taxed at 5%. A report by The Economic Times said that GST rates on pizzas are decided on the basis of how they are prepared and where they are sold.

This means, that pizzas prepared and sold at restaurants attract 5% GST, pizza that is home-delivered attracts 18% GST. It also stated that Pizza base bought separately, however, is taxable at the rate of 12% as per GST norms.

The confusion arose after the Haryana Appellate Authority for Advanced Ruling (AAAR) has stated that pizza topping is not pizza and thus should be classified differently for GST purposes.

The authority stated on 10 March that the preparation method of pizza toppings is different from pizza, and thus should be taxed at 18% in the category of ‘food preparation’.

This could complicate the taxation process for many popular food chains and eateries selling pizzas through dine out or takeaway modes.

The decision left Twitter users confused. The announcement drew the ire of several users, who reacted strongly to the news.

“This should go down in our history books,” wrote one user, while another stated, “Already pizza in restaurant, pizza base, pizza delivered home.. all attract different GST rates. Basically, DO NOT EAT PIZZA!”

“One Pizza, One Topping #GST,” wrote a user.

WazirX founder Siddharth wrote ,” I guess it’s not just Cryptoverse in India that is confused about Taxes. Pizza toppings to be taxed more GST as it’s not pizza.”