The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ruled that mango pulp be taxed at 12% under GST as per the existing regulations and framework. The court said that the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling's decision to impose GST on mango pulp at 18% was incorrect.

Earlier, exporters and businessmen faced problems due to confusion in rates on different forms of mango, like sliced, dried mangoes or mango pulp.

"The court has rightly given weightage to the circular pursuant to the GST council meeting, where it was clarified that mango pulp is liable to GST at 12%," said Harpreet Singh, indirect tax partner at KPMG in India.

The court also directed the revenue authorities not to take any "coercive action" for recovering 18% GST on mango pulp.

Going ahead, fresh mangoes sold as a fruit will attract no GST. While sliced and dried mangoes will face 5% GST. "The interesting thing to note is that, under GST laws, a particular product in different forms can attract different GST rates. Similarly, there are varied rates for meat, i.e., raw meat, canned meat, etc. Another example could be milk; fresh milk attracts GST at nil rates, UHT (ultra-heat treatment) milk at 5%, and condensed or flavoured milk is chargeable at higher rates," said Singh.