Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal takes a jibe at GST on popcorns: Man arrested at movie theatre for … – Times of India

Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal has taken a jibe at the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on caramelised popcorn. Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Mittal shared his thoughts on the GST rate, humorously joking about a man getting arrested for taking sugar inside a movie theatre. “Man arrested at movie theatre for smuggling sugar inside for his popcorn 🤷🏻” he wrote, sparking widespread debate online.
The GST Council in its 55th Meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced significant changes to the GST regime. Among others is the different tax rates on salted, pre-packaged, and caramelised popcorn, sparking debate online. According to the GST Council’s discussions, pre-packed and labelled ready-to-eat snacks, including popcorn, will attract a 12% GST. Caramelised popcorn will be taxed at 18 percent, as it falls under the category of sugar confectionery.
Explaining the different tax rates, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Salted, caramelised, plain popcorn is being sold as namkeen in certain states. Caramelised popcorn comes with added sugar, so the treatment rate is different from namkeen.”

Here’s a look at Anupam Mittal’s post

How X users reacted to Anupam Mittal’s post

Commenting on the post, one user jokingly wrote “Sgst= salted GST Cgst=caramel GST”. Another user commented “😂 Sugar smuggling for popcorn is a next-level trick to evade GST! 🍿Theaters should consider a BYOS (Bring Your Own Sugar) policy in the future.”
“And in another case, the theatre owner was arrested for adding salt in caramelised popcorn to evade high GST,” joked another.