Petrol, Diesel Prices and Food Delivery App – What will be on the agenda of the GST Council meeting today
The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on Friday to review, among other things, the tax rate of over four dozen items and extend tax concessions on 11 COVID drugs till December 31. In addition, a proposal to tax petrol and diesel under a single national GST tax and treat food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy as restaurants and a 5 per cent GST tax on supplies made by them will be taken up by the council in its meeting. . September 17 in Lucknow.
The council, comprising Union and state finance ministers, will consider a proposal to extend the existing concessional tax rate structure on anti-coagulants such as amphotericin B, tocilizumab, remdesivir and heparin from the current September 30 to December 31, 2021. The tax rate on amphotericin B, tocilizumab, was reduced to ‘zero’ in June 2021, while remdesivir and heparin were reduced to 5 percent.
The council is also likely to discuss a proposal to reduce GST from 12 per cent to 5 per cent by December 31, 2021. These are itolizumab, posaconazole, infliximab, bamlanivimab and atacevimab, casirivimab and imdevimab, 2-deoxy-D-glucose and favipiravir.
To prevent tax evasion, a proposal to make food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato liable to pay Goods and Services Tax on restaurant services supplied through them will also be considered by the council. Once approved by the GST Council, the food delivery app will have to deposit the GST with the government at the location of the restaurant for the deliveries made by them. There will be no additional tax burden on the end consumer. As per estimates, the tax loss to the exchequer is Rs 2,000 in the last two years due to alleged under-reporting by food delivery aggregators.
In light of the order of the Kerala High Court, the council will also discuss taxing petrol and diesel under GST, a move that may require both the central and state governments to compromise heavily on the revenue from taxing these products. Is. In June, the Kerala High Court, based on a writ petition, had asked the GST Council to take a decision on bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST.
The council will also discuss the interim report of the state-ministerial panel on capacity-based taxation on pan masala and composition scheme for brick kilns and stone crushers. The panel has recommended a special composition scheme in the brick kiln sector with effect from April 1, 2022, with a GST rate of 6 per cent, similar to the rate in the services sector, without ITC. It has also suggested increasing the GST rate on supply of bricks from 5 per cent to 12 per cent (with ITC) from April 1. The council will review the GST rates and also clarify about 32 goods and 29 services.
Items under review include Zolgensma and Viltepso drugs for personal use, solar PV modules, copper concentrate, carbonated beverages with fruit juice, coconut oil, flavored sweet betel nut, oncology medicine and diesel-electric engines.
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