GST Council key outcomes: Tax on liquid jaggery reduced; okays setting up tribunals, specific levy for pan masala firms
While addressing a press conference soon after the 49th meeting of the GST Council ended, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the entire GST compensation cess for June 2022 totaling Rs.16,982 crore will be cleared.
She also informed that Rs.16,524 crore to six states which have submitted the accountant general’s (AG) certificate would also be released. Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are among the six states which have submitted AG certificates.
Though the submission of the AG certificate is a requirement for the states to seek GST compensation, Sitharaman said that it wasn’t a strict pre-requisite, as 90 percent of funds are anyway released to the states, while the remaining amount is given after the AG certificate is submitted.
Sitharaman said that the GST Council decided to tax services supplied by courts and tribunals under the reverse charge mechanism. She also informed that the decision on the GST Appellate Tribunal has been accepted with a change in language and the modification in the draft will be circulated within a week.
Sitharaman said that she expects to finalize the group of ministers (GoM) report on GST tribunals with slight modifications so that it is ready by March 1 and can be included in the Finance Bill.
The GST Council meeting, which was held at Vigyan Bhavan here, discussed matters pertaining to the setting up of appellate tribunals and curbing tax evasion in pan masala and gutkha businesses. The council accepted the GoM report on taxation for pan masala.
At the meeting, the GST Council decided to reduce GST on pencil sharpeners and specific tracking devices. Exemption on coal rejects supplied by and to the washeries was also approved by the Council. Also, GST on a type of liquid jaggery has been reduced to nil from 18 percent if sold loose. If it’s pre-packaged and labelled, the tax rate on it would be 5 percent.
The GST Council also recommended rationalization of late fees for delayed filing of annual returns. However, no decision could be arrived at by the fitment committee for SUVs and MUVs.
The GoM’s report on online gaming could not be taken up at the meeting as the Chairman of the GoM, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, could not attend the meeting due to the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, the Finance Minister said.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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