GST council cuts taxes on millet flour
On Saturday, the GST Council exempted millet flour from GST. However, branded millet products will attract a GST of 5 percent.
The decision has been taken as 2023 has been declared the Year of the Millet.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference after the GST Council meeting that food preparations in powder form containing at least 70 percent millets will not have to pay any GST.
These food products have to be sold in loose form or non-branded packets.
Earlier, the fitment committee of the GST Council had recommended the exemption on powdered millet. It had refused to give any incentive for prepared products made out of millet.
Tax-levying power on ENA ceded to states, distilled alcohol exempted
GST Council decided to give the states a free hand to levy tax on extra neutral alcohol (ENA) which is used to make alcohol for human consumption.
However, keeping the issue of healthy Centre-state relations in mind it was decided at the GST Council meeting that this right would be “ceded to the states,” the Finance Minister explained.
ENA is the raw alcohol that is used to make alcohol for human consumption.
The GST Council also decided to reduce the tax rate on molasses from 28 to 5 percent which would benefit sugarcane farmers as mills would get more money, Sitharaman said.
GST on online gaming companies not levied
The Central government has also clarified to the states that the goods and services tax (GST) on online gaming companies is not being levied retrospectively since some online games involved in betting were already being charged a 28 percent GST under the law earlier.
Certain states during the GST Council meeting on October 7 are reported to have flagged the issue of retrospectively imposing GST on online gaming companies, according to Maharashtra minister Deepak Vasant Kesarkar.
However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the issue was not on the agenda of the GST Council meeting but was raised by some states such as Goa after the meeting was over.
“It was informed to certain members that this is not retrospective and this was the law earlier. These liabilities were already existing because money online games played with bets… they were already attracting by way of betting or gambling 28 percent GST,” Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said in answer to a question at a press conference after the meeting.
A number of online gaming companies have been issued show-cause notices for allegedly evading GST with a cumulative amount adding up to a whopping Rs.55,000 crore.
Many have termed this as retrospective taxation claiming that the notices pertain to the period before the October 1, 2023 implementation date for a new tax treatment for gaming platforms.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T S Singh Deo also said that the Council discussed the issue of retrospectively taxing online gaming under the indirect tax regime with the dues being demanded from some firms exceeding their turnover.
Delhi Finance Minister Atishi also said on Saturday that the proposed 28 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online gaming firms could jeopardize the entire Indian startup sector, potentially leading to significant job losses and hit foreign investments.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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