Many countries, including ours, have adopted multiple rate structures in the GST system, a complex mechanism designed to make it progressive. It is often assumed that items (goods and services) either exempted from the GST or attracting lower GST rates constitute a significant share of the consumption basket of people from lower economic strata. However, recent studies show that exemptions and tax rate differentiation have little impact on the distributional aspects of the GST, underscoring the need for a more nuanced understanding of this system.