Business

The main ideas in the meeting of the GST Council in 10 points

June 28, 2022
Bharat Times

The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, began deliberations today.

The GST Council on Tuesday approved changes in tax rates on certain goods and services, while allowing states to issue e-way bills for inter-state movement of gold and precious stones, officials said. This was the first day of the two-day meeting of the GST Council, which is chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and is underway in Chandigarh.

Let’s take a brief look at the key points in 10 points from the first day of the meeting.

  1. The GST Council, in a meeting on Tuesday, accepted the interim report of the Group of State Finance Ministers, chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai, on rate rationalization to reform the inverted duty structure and simplification of tax exemptions on certain items. Is. rate structure.

  2. The Group of Ministers (GoM) had suggested withdrawal of GST exemption on several services including hotel accommodation below Rs 1,000 per day and replacing it with 12 per cent tax.

  3. It also recommended levy of 5 per cent GST on room rent (excluding ICU) for hospitalized patients where hospital room charges exceed Rs 5,000 per day.

  4. It wanted a tax on all post office services other than postcards and inland letters, book posts and envelopes weighing less than 10 grams. In addition, 18 per cent tax should be levied in cheque, loose or booked form, the GoM recommended.

  5. The GoM supported the withdrawal of exemptions given for renting out residential homes by businesses for residential use.

  6. With regard to e-way bill on intra-state movement of gold, jewelery and precious stones to prevent theft, the Council recommended that states may decide on the limit above which electronic billing is to be made mandatory. A panel of state ministers had recommended raising the limit to Rs 2 lakh and above.

  7. With regard to high-risk taxpayers, a report by a panel of state finance ministers had suggested post-registration verification for high-risk taxpayers under GST, besides electricity bill details and bank accounts to identify such taxpayers. Verification of accounts was used.

  8. Meanwhile, states ruled by opposition parties have demanded that either the revenue sharing formula under the GST regime should be changed or the compensation period should be extended by five years amid concerns of revenue loss.

  9. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on July 1, 2017, and states were assured compensation for revenue loss by June 2022 due to the GST rollout.

  10. Chhattisgarh Finance Minister TS Singh Deo said the existing formula of equally dividing the revenue from GST between the Center and the states should be changed, with the states giving a bigger share of 70-80 per cent. Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal said that the GST compensation mechanism should be expanded for the states to meet the revenue loss.