GST Council Meeting News: Top Changes You Must Know !

The 54th GST council meeting held today on 09.09.2024 in Delhi. Here are the recommendation output from the meeting.

Changes/Clarifications in GST Tax Rates:

GOODS

1. Namkeens and Extruded/Expanded Savoury food products

The GST rate of extruded or expanded products, savoury or salted (other than un-fried or un-cooked snack pellets, by whatever name called, manufactured through process of extrusion), falling under HS 1905 90 30 to be reduced from 18% to 12% at par with namkeens, bhujia, mixture, chabena (pre-packaged and labelled) and similar edible preparations in ready for consumption form which are classifiable under HS 2106 90. The GST rate of 5% will continue on un-fried or un-cooked snack pellets, by whatever name called, manufactured through process of extrusion.
To also clarify that the reduced GST rate of 12% on extruded or expanded products, savoury or salted (other than un-fried or un-cooked snack pellets, by whatever name called, manufactured through process of extrusion), falling under HS 1905 90 30 is applicable prospectively.

2. Cancer Drugs

The GST rate on cancer drugs namely, Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab to be reduced from 12% to 5%.

3. Metal Scrap

Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) to be introduced on supply of metal scrap by unregistered person to registered person provided that the supplier shall take registration as and when it crosses threshold limit and the recipient who is liable to pay under RCM shall pay tax even if supplier is under threshold.
A TDS of 2% will be applicable on supply of metal scrap by registered person in B to B supply.

4. Roof Mounted Package Unit (RMPU) Air Conditioning Machines for Railways

To clarify that Roof Mounted Package Unit (RMPU) Air Conditioning Machines for Railways would be classified under HSN 8415 attracting a GST rate of 28%.

5. Car and Motor cycle seats

To clarify that car seats are classifiable under 9401 and attract a GST rate of 18%.
GST rate on car seats classifiable under 9401 to be increased from 18% to 28%. This uniform rate of 28% will be applicable prospectively for car seats of motor cars in order to bring parity with seats of motorcycles which already attract a GST rate of 28%.

SERVICES

Life and Health insurance

GST Council recommended to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) to holistically look into the issues pertaining to GST on the life insurance and health insurance. The GoM members are Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Gujarat. The GoM is to submit the report by end of October 2024.

Transport of passengers by helicopters

To notify GST @ 5% on the transport of passengers by helicopters on seat share basis and to regularise the GST for past period on ‘as is where is’ basis. To also clarify that charter of helicopter will continue to attract 18% GST.

Flying training courses

To clarify by way of a circular that the approved flying training courses conducted by DGCA approved Flying Training Organizations (FTOs) are exempt from the levy of GST.

Supply of research and development services

The GST Council recommended to exempt supply of research and development services by a Government Entity; or a research association, university, college or other institution, notified under clauses (ii) or (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 using Government or private grants.
Past demands to be regularised on ‘as is where is’ basis.

Preferential Location Charges (PLC)

To clarify that location charges or Preferential Location Charges (PLC) paid along with the consideration for the construction services of residential/commercial/industrial complex before issuance of completion certificate forms part of composite supply where supply of construction services is the main service and PLC is naturally bundled with it and are eligible for same tax treatment as the main supply that is, construction service.

Affiliation services

To clarify that affiliation services provided by educational boards like CBSE are taxable. However, to exempt affiliation services provided by State/Central educational boards, educational councils and other similarly placed bodies to Government Schools prospectively. The issue for the past period between 01.07.2017 to 17.06.2021 to be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis.
To clarify by way of circular that the affiliation services provided by universities to their constituent colleges are not covered within the ambit of exemptions provided to educational institutions in the notification No. 12/2017-CT(R) dated 28.06.2017 and GST at the rate of 18% is applicable on the affiliation services provided by the universities.

Import of service by branch Office

To exempt import of services by an establishment of a foreign airlines company from a related person or any of its establishment outside India, when made without consideration. The council also recommended to regularise the past period on ‘as is where is’ basis.

Renting of commercial property

To bring renting of commercial property by unregistered person to a registered person under Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) to prevent revenue leakage.

Ancillary/intermediate services are provided by GTA

To clarify that when ancillary/intermediate services are provided by GTA in the course of transportation of goods by road and GTA also issues consignment note, the service will constitute a composite supply and all such ancillary/intermediate services like loading/unloading, packing/unpacking, transshipment, temporary warehousing etc. will be treated as part of the composite supply. If such services are not provided in the course of transportation of goods and invoiced separately, then these services will not be treated as composite supply of transport of goods.

Other changes

To regularise the GST liability for the past period prior to 01.10.2021 on ‘as is where is’ basis, where the film distributor or sub-distributor acts on a principal basis to acquire and distribute films.
To exempt supply of services such as application fees for providing electricity connection, rental charges against electricity meter, testing fees for meters/ transformers/capacitors, labour charges from customers for shifting of meters/service lines, charges for duplicate bills etc. which are incidental, ancillary or integral to the supply of transmission and distribution of electricity by transmission and distribution utilities to their consumers, when provided as a composite supply. GST for the past period to be regularised on ‘as is where is’ basis.

Measures for facilitation of trade:

Procedure and conditions for waiver of interest or penalty or both, in respect of tax demands under section 73 of CGST Act, 2017 for FYs 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 as per section 128A of CGST Act, 2017:

The GST Council recommended insertion of rule 164 in CGST Rules, 2017, along with certain Forms, providing for the procedure and conditions for availment of benefit of waiver of interest or penalty or both, relating to tax demands under section 73 of CGST Act, pertaining to FYs 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, as per section 128A of CGST Act. The Council also recommended to notify under sub-section (1) of section 128A of CGST Act, 31.03.2025 as the date on or before which the payment of tax may be made by the registered persons, to avail the said benefit as per section 128A of the CGST Act. The Council also recommended the issuance of a circular to clarify various issues related to availment of waiver of interest or penalty or both as per section 128A of CGST Act. The Council also recommended that section 146 of Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, which provides for insertion of section 128A in CGST Act, 2017, may be notified with effect from 01.11.2024.

Providing a mechanism for implementation of newly inserted sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) in section 16 of CGST Act, 2017:

The GST Council recommended that section 118 and 150 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, which provides for insertion of sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) in section 16 of CGST Act, 2017 retrospectively with effect from 01.07.2017, may be notified at the earliest.

The Council also recommended that a special procedure for rectification of orders may be notified under section 148 of the CGST Act, to be followed by the class of taxable persons, against whom any order under section 73 or section 74 or section 107 or section 108 of the CGST Act has been issued confirming demand for wrong availment of input tax credit on account of contravention of provisions of sub-section (4) of section 16 of the CGST Act, but where such input tax credit is now available as per the provisions of sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) of section 16 of the CGST Act, and where appeal against the said order has not been filed. The Council also recommended issuance of a circular to clarify the procedure and various issues related to implementation of the said provisions of sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) of section 16 of CGST Act, 2017.

Amendments in rule 89 and rule 96 of CGST Rules, 2017 and to provide clarification in respect of IGST refunds on exports where benefit of concessional/ exemption notifications specified under rule 96(10) of CGST Rules, 2017 has been availed on the inputs:

The GST Council recommended to clarify that where the inputs were initially imported without payment of integrated tax and compensation cess by availing benefits under Notification No. 78/2017-Customs dated 13.10.2017 or Notification No. 79/2017-Customs dated 13.10.2017, but IGST and compensation cess on such imported inputs are subsequently paid, along with applicable interest, and the Bill of Entry in respect of the import of the said inputs is got reassessed through the jurisdictional Customs authorities to this effect, then the IGST paid on exports, refunded to the said exporter shall not be considered to be in contravention of provisions of sub-rule (10) of rule 96 of CGST Rules.

Further, considering the difficulty being faced by the exporters due to restriction in respect of refund on exports, imposed vide rule 96(10), rule 89(4A) & rule 89(4B) of CGST Rules, 2017, in cases where benefit of the specified concessional/ exemption notifications is availed on the inputs, the Council recommended to prospectively omit rule 96(10), rule 89(4A) & rule 89(4B) from CGST Rules, 2017. This will simplify and expedite the procedure for refunds in respect of such exports.

Issuance of clarifications through the circulars to remove ambiguity and legal disputes in certain issues:

The GST Council recommended issuance of circulars to provide clarity and to remove doubts and ambiguities arising in the following issues due to varied interpretations by the field formations:

Clarification on the Place of Supply of advertising services provided by Indian advertising companies to foreign entities.
Clarification regarding availability of Input Tax Credit on demo vehicles by the dealers of the vehicle manufacturers.
Clarification on Place of Supply of data hosting services provided by service providers located in India to cloud computing service providers located outside India.

The Council also recommended amendments in some other provisions of CGST Rules, 2017.

Other measures:

1. B2C E-invoicing:

The GST Council recommended roll out of a pilot for B2C e-Invoicing, following the successful implementation of e-invoicing in the B2B sector. The Council recognized potential benefits of e-invoicing in retail, such as improved business efficiency, environmentally friendly, cost efficiency to the business, etc.

It would also provide an opportunity to the retail customers to verify the reporting of the invoice in the GST return. The pilot will be rolled out on voluntary basis in selected Sectors and States.

2. Invoice Management System and new ledgers:

The Council also took note of the agenda on the enhancements being made to the existing GST return architecture. These enhancements include the introduction of a Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) ledger, an Input Tax Credit Reclaim ledger and an Invoice Management System (IMS). Taxpayers would be given the opportunity to declare their opening balance for these ledgers by 31^st October 2024.

IMS will allow the taxpayers to accept, reject, or to keep the invoices pending for the purpose of availment of Input Tax Credit. This will be an optional facility for taxpayers to reduce errors in claiming input tax credit and improve reconciliation. This is expected to reduce notices issued on account of ITC mismatch in the returns.

53rd GST Meeting

The 53rd GST Council met under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi today. The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, Chief Ministers of Goa and Meghalaya; Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha; besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs (with legislature) and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance & States/ UTs. Below are the Recommendations:

I. Recommendations relating to GST rates on Goods

A. Changes in GST rates of goods

A uniform rate of 5% IGST will apply to imports of ‘Parts, components, testing equipment, tools and tool-kits of aircrafts, irrespective of their HS classification to provide a fillip to MRO activities subject to specified conditions.
All milk cans (of steel, iron and aluminium) irrespective of their use will attract 12% GST.
GST rate on ‘carton, boxes and cases of both corrugated and non-corrugated paper or paper-board’ (HS 4819 10; 4819 20) to be reduced from 18% to 12%.
All solar cookers whether single or dual energy source, will attract 12% GST.
To amend existing entry covering Poultry keeping Machinery attracting 12% GST to specifically incorporate “parts of Poultry keeping Machinery” and to regularise past practice on ‘as is where is’ basis in view of genuine interpretational issues.
To clarify that all types of sprinklers including fire water sprinklers will attract 12% GST and to regularise the past practice on ‘as is where is’ basis in view of genuine interpretational issues.
To extend IGST exemption on imports of specified items for defence forces for a further period of five years till 30th June, 2029.
To extend IGST exemption on imports of research equipment/buoys imported under the Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) programme subject to specified conditions.
To exempt Compensation Cess on the imports in SEZ by SEZ Unit/developers for authorised operations w.e.f. 01.07.2017.

Other Miscellaneous Changes

To exempt Compensation cess on supply of aerated beverages and energy drinks to authorised customers by Unit Run Canteens under Ministry of Defence.
To provide Adhoc IGST exemption on imports of technical documentation for AK-203 rifle kits imported for Indian Defence forces.

II. Recommendations relating to GST rates on services

To exempt the services provided by Indian Railways to general public, namely, sale of platform tickets, facility of retiring rooms/waiting rooms, cloak room services and battery-operated car services and to also exempt the Intra-Railway transactions. The issue for the past period will be regularized from 20.10.2023 to the date of issue of exemption notification in this regard.
To exempt GST on the services provided by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to Indian Railway by way of allowing Indian Railway to use infrastructure built & owned by SPV during the concession period and maintenance services supplied by Indian Railways to SPV. The issue for the past will be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis for the period from 01.07.2017 till the date of issue of exemption notification in this regard.
To create a separate entry in notification No. 12/2017- CTR 28.06.2017 under heading 9963 to exempt accommodation services having value of supply of accommodation up to Rs. 20,000/- per month per person subject to the condition that the accommodation service is supplied for a minimum continuous period of 90 days. To extend similar benefit for past cases.

Other changes relating to Services

Co-insurance premium apportioned by lead insurer to the co-insurer for the supply of insurance service by lead and co-insurer to the insured in coinsurance agreements, may be declared as no supply under Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017 and past cases may be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis.
Transaction of ceding commission/re-insurance commission between insurer and re-insurer may be declared as no supply under Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017 and past cases may be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis.
GST liability on reinsurance services of specified insurance schemes covered by Sr. Nos. 35 & 36 of notification No. 12/2017-CT (Rate) dated 28.06.2017 may be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis for the period from 01.07.2017 to 24.01.2018.
GST liability on reinsurance services of the insurance schemes for which total premium is paid by the Government that are covered under Sr. No. 40 of notification No. 12/2017-CTR dated 28.06.2017 may be regularized on ‘as is where is’ basis for the period from 01.07.2017 to 26.07.2018.
To issue clarification that retrocession is ‘re-insurance of re-insurance’ and therefore, eligible for the exemption under Sl. No. 36A of the notification No. 12/2017-CTR dated 28.06.2017.
To issue clarification that statutory collections made by Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) are exempt from GST as they fall within the scope of entry 4 of No.12/2017-CTR dated 28.06.2017.
To issue clarification that further sharing of the incentive by acquiring bank with other stakeholders, where the sharing of such incentive is clearly defined under Incentive scheme for promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and low value BHIM-UPI transactions and is decided in the proportion and manner by NPCI in consultation with the participating banks is not taxable.

B. Measures for facilitation of trade:

Insertion of Section 128A in CGST Act, to provide for conditional waiver of interest or penalty or both, relating to demands raised under Section 73, for FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-20 : Considering the difficulties faced by the taxpayers, during the initial years of implementation of GST, the GST Council recommended, waiving interest and penalties for demand notices issued under Section 73 of the CGST Act for the fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, in cases where the taxpayer pays the full amount of tax demanded in the notice upto 31.03.2025. The waiver does not cover demand of erroneous refunds. To implement this, the GST Council has recommended insertion of Section 128A in CGST Act, 2017.

2. Reduction of Government Litigation by Fixing monetary limits for filing appeals under GST: The Council recommended to prescribe monetary limits, subject to certain exclusions, for filing of appeals in GST by the department before GST Appellate Tribunal, High Court, and Supreme Court, to reduce government litigation. The following monetary limits have been recommended by the Council:

GSTAT: Rs. 20 lakhs

High Court: Rs. 1 crore

Supreme Court: Rs. 2 crores

3. Amendment in Section 107 and Section 112 of CGST Act for reducing the amount of pre-deposit required to be paid for filing of appeals under GST: The GST Council recommended reducing the amount of pre-deposit for filing of appeals under GST to ease cash flow and working capital blockage for the taxpayers. The maximum amount for filing appeal with the appellate authority has been reduced from Rs. 25 crores CGST and Rs. 25 crores SGST to Rs. 20 crores CGST and Rs. 20 crores SGST. Further, the amount of pre-deposit for filing appeal with the Appellate Tribunal has been reduced from 20% with a maximum amount of Rs. 50 crores CGST and Rs. 50 crores SGST to 10 % with a maximum of Rs. 20 crores CGST and Rs. 20 crores SGST.

4. Applicability of Goods and Services Tax on Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) Taxation of ENA under GST: The GST Council, in its 52nd meeting, had recommended to amend GST Law to explicitly exclude rectified spirit/Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) from the scope of GST when supplied for manufacturing alcoholic liquors for human consumption. The GST Council now recommended amendment in sub-section (1) of Section 9 of the CGST Act, 2017 for not levying GST on Extra Neutral Alcohol used for manufacture of alcoholic liquor for human consumption.

5. Reduction in rate of TCS to be collected by the ECOs for supplies being made through them: Electronic Commerce Operators (ECOs) are required to collect Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on net taxable supplies under Section 52(1) of the CGST Act. The GST Council has recommended to reduce the TCS rate from present 1% (0.5% CGST + 0.5% SGST/ UTGST, or 1% IGST) to 0.5 % (0.25% CGST + 0.25% SGST/UTGST, or 0.5% IGST), to ease the financial burden on the suppliers making supplies through such ECOs.

6. Time for filing appeals in GST Appellate Tribunal: The GST Council recommended amending Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017 to allow the three-month period for filing appeals before the Appellate Tribunal to start from a date to be notified by the Government in respect of appeal/ revision orders passed before the date of said notification. This will give sufficient time to the taxpayers to file appeal before the Appellate Tribunal in the pending cases.

7. Relaxation in condition of section 16(4) of the CGST Act:

a) In respect of initial years of implementation of GST, i.e., financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21:

The GST Council recommended that the time limit to avail input tax credit in respect of any invoice or debit note under Section 16(4) of CGST Act, through any return in FORM GSTR 3B filed upto 30.11.2021 for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, may be deemed to be 30.11.2021. For the same, requisite amendment in section 16(4) of CGST Act, retrospectively, w.e.f. 01.07.2017, has been recommended by the Council.

b) with respect to cases where returns have been filed after revocation:

The GST Council recommended retrospective amendment in Section 16(4) of CGST Act, to be made effective from July 1^st, 2017, to conditionally relax the provisions of section 16(4) of CGST Act in cases where returns for the period from the date of cancellation of registration/ effective date of cancellation of registration till the date of revocation of cancellation of the registration, are filed by the registered person within thirty days of the order of revocation.

8. Change in due date for filing of return in FORM GSTR-4 for composition taxpayers from 30^th April to 30^th June: The GST Council recommended an amendment in clause (ii) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 62 of CGST Rules, 2017 and FORM GSTR-4 to extend the due date for filing of return in FORM GSTR-4 for composition taxpayers from 30^th April to 30^th June following the end of the financial year. This will apply for returns for the financial year 2024-25 onwards. The same would give more time to the taxpayers who opt to pay tax under composition levy to furnish the said return.

9. Amendment of Rule 88B of CGST Rules, 2017 in respect of interest under Section 50 of CGST Act on delayed filing of returns, in cases where the credit is available in Electronic Cash Ledger (ECL) on the due date of filing the said return: The GST Council recommended amendment in rule 88B of CGST Rules to provide that an amount, which is available in the Electronic Cash Ledger on the due date of filing of return in FORM GSTR-3B, and is debited while filing the said return, shall not be included while calculating interest under section 50 of the CGST Act in respect of delayed filing of the said return.

10. Insertion of Section 11A in CGST Act for granting power not to recover duties not levied or short-levied as a result of general practice under GST Acts: The GST Council recommended inserting a new Section 11A in CGST Act to give powers to the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, to allow regularization of non-levy or short levy of GST, where tax was being short paid or not paid due to common trade practices.

11. Refund of additional Integrated Tax (IGST) paid on account of upward revision in price of the goods subsequent to export: The GST Council recommended to prescribe a mechanism for claiming refund of additional IGST paid on account of upward revision in price of the goods subsequent to their export. This will facilitate a large number of taxpayers, who are required to pay additional IGST on account of upward revision in price of the goods subsequent to export, in claiming refund of such additional IGST.

Clarification regarding valuation of supply of import of services by a related person where recipient is eligible to full input tax credit: The Council recommended to clarify that in cases where the foreign affiliate is providing certain services to the related domestic entity, for which full input tax credit is available to the said related domestic entity, the value of such supply of services declared in the invoice by the said related domestic entity may be deemed as open market value in terms of second proviso to rule 28(1) of CGST Rules. Further, in cases where full input tax credit is available to the recipient, if the invoice is not issued by the related domestic entity with respect to any service provided by the foreign affiliate to it, the value of such services may be deemed to be declared as Nil, and may be deemed as open market value in terms of second proviso to rule 28(1) of CGST Rules.
Clarification regarding availability of Input Tax Credit (ITC) on ducts and manholes used in the network of Optical Fiber Cables (OFCs): The Council recommended to clarify that input tax credit is not restricted in respect of ducts and manhole used in network of optical fiber cables (OFCs), under clause (c) or under clause (d) of sub-section (5) of section 17 of CGST Act.
Clarification on the place of supply applicable for custodial services provided by banks: The Council recommended to clarify that place of supply of Custodial services supplied by Indian Banks to Foreign Portfolio Investors is determinable as per Section 13(2) of the IGST Act, 2017.
Clarification on valuation of corporate guarantee provided between related persons after insertion of Rule 28(2) of CGST Rules, 2017: GST Council recommended amendment of rule 28(2) of CGST Rules retrospectively with effect from 26.10.2023 and issuance of a circular to clarify various issues regarding valuation of services of providing corporate guarantees between related parties. It is inter alia being clarified that valuation under rule 28(2) of CGST Rules would not be applicable in case of export of such services and also where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit.
Clarification regarding applicability of provisions of Section 16 (4) of CGST Act, 2017, in respect of invoices issued by the recipient under Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM): The Council recommended to clarify that in cases of supplies received from unregistered suppliers, where tax has to be paid by the recipient under reverse charge mechanism (RCM) and invoice is to be issued by the recipient only, the relevant financial year for calculation of time limit for availment of input tax credit under the provisions of section 16(4) of CGST Act is the financial year in which the invoice has been issued by the recipient.

17. Clarification on following issues to provide clarity to trade and tax officers and to reduce litigation:

Clarification on taxability of re-imbursement of securities/shares as ESOP/ESPP/RSU provided by a company to its employees
Clarification on requirement of reversal of input tax credit in respect of amount of premium in Life Insurance services, which is not included in the taxable value as per Rule 32(4) of CGST Rules.
Clarification on taxability of wreck and salvage values in motor insurance claims
Clarification in respect of Warranty/ Extended Warranty provided by Manufacturers to the end customers
Clarification regarding availability of input tax credit on repair expenses incurred by the insurance companies in case of reimbursement mode of settlement of motor vehicle insurance claims.
Clarification on taxability of loans granted between related person or between group companies.
Clarification on time of supply on Annuity Payments under HAM Projects.
Clarification regarding time of supply in respect of allotment of Spectrum to Telecom companies in cases where payment of licence fee and Spectrum usage charges is to be made in instalments.
Clarification relating to place of supply of goods supplied to unregistered persons, where delivery address is different from the billing address
Clarification on mechanism for providing evidence by the suppliers for compliance of the conditions of Section 15(3)(b)(ii) of CGST Act, 2017 in respect of post-sale discounts, to the effect that input tax credit has been reversed by the recipient on the said amount.
Clarifications on various issues pertaining to special procedure for the manufacturers of the specified commodities, like pan masala, tobacco etc.

18. The Council recommended amendment in section 140(7) of CGST Act retrospectively w.e.f. 01.07.2017 to provide for transitional credit in respect of invoices pertaining to services provided before appointed date, and where invoices were received by Input Service Distributor (ISD) before the appointed date.

19. The Council recommended providing a new optional facility by way of FORM GSTR-1A to facilitate the taxpayers to amend the details in FORM GSTR-1 for a tax period and/ or to declare additional details, if any, before filing of return in FORM GSTR-3B for the said tax period. This will facilitate taxpayer to add any particulars of supply of the current tax period missed out in reporting in FORM GSTR-1 of the said tax period or to amend any particulars already declared in FORM GSTR-1 of the current tax period (including those declared in IFF, for the first and second months of a quarter, if any, for quarterly taxpayers), to ensure that correct liability is auto-populated in FORM GSTR-3B.

20. The Council recommended that filing of annual return in FORM GSTR-9/9A for the FY 2023-24 may be exempted for taxpayers having aggregate annual turnover upto two crore rupees.

21. Amendment was recommended to be made in section 122(1B) of CGST Act retrospectively w.e.f. 01.10.2023, so as to clarify that the said penal provision is applicable only for those e-commerce operators, who are required to collect tax under section 52 of CGST Act, and not for other e-commerce operators.

22. The Council recommended amendment in rule 142 of CGST Rules and issuance of a circular to prescribe a mechanism for adjustment of an amount paid in respect of a demand through FORM GST DRC-03 against the amount to be paid as pre-deposit for filing appeal.

Other measures pertaining to Law and Procedures

23. Rolling out of bio-metric based Aadhaar authentication on All-India basis: The GST Council recommended to roll-out the biometric-based Aadhaar authentication of registration applicants on pan-India basis in a phased manner. This will strengthen the registration process in GST and will help in combating fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) claims made through fake invoices.

24. Amendments in Section 73 and Section 74 of CGST Act, 2017 and insertion of a new Section 74A in CGST Act, to provide for common time limit for issuance of demand notices and orders irrespective of whether case involves fraud, suppression, willful misstatement etc., or not: Presently, there is a different time limit for issuing demand notices and demand orders, in cases where charges of fraud, suppression, willful misstatement etc., are not involved, and in cases where those charges are involved. In order to simplify the implementation of those provisions, the GST Council recommended to provide for a common time limit for issuance of demand notices and orders in respect of demands for FY 2024-25 onwards, in cases involving charges of fraud or willful misstatement and not involving the charges of fraud or willful misstatement etc. Also, the time limit for the taxpayers to avail the benefit of reduced penalty, by paying the tax demanded along with interest, has been recommended to be increased from 30 days to 60 days.

25. The Council recommended amendment in section 171 and section 109 of CGST Act, 2017 to provide a sunset clause for anti-profiteering under GST and to provide for handling of anti-profiteering cases by Principal bench of GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). Council has also recommended the sun-set date of 01.04.2025 for receipt of any new application regarding anti-profiteering.

26. Amendment in Section 16 of IGST Act and section 54 of CGST Act to curtail refund of IGST in cases where export duty is payable: The Council recommended amendments in section 16 of IGST Act and section 54 of CGST Act to provide that the refund in respect of goods, which are subjected to export duty, is restricted, irrespective of whether the said goods are exported without payment of taxes or with payment of taxes, and such restrictions should also be applicable, if such goods are supplied to a SEZ developer or a SEZ unit for authorized operations.

27. The threshold for reporting of B2C inter-State supplies invoice-wise in Table 5 of FORM GSTR-1 was recommended to be reduced from Rs 2.5 Lakh to Rs 1 Lakh.

28. The Council recommended that return in FORM GSTR-7, to be filed by the registered persons who are required to deduct tax at source under section 51 of CGST Act, is to be filed every month irrespective of whether any tax has been deducted during the said month or not. It has also been recommended that no late fee may be payable for delayed filing of Nil FORM GSTR-7 return. Further, it has been recommended that invoice-wise details may be required to be furnished in the said FORM GSTR-7 return.

Note: The recommendations of the GST Council have been presented in this release containing major item of decisions in simple language for information of the stakeholders. The same would be given effect through the relevant circulars/ notifications/ law amendments which alone shall have the force of law.

Top Recommendations of 52nd GST Council Meeting

The 52nd GST meeting held on 7th October 2023 in New Delhi. Here are the details of all recommendations were made the council today.

Top Recommendations:

GST Council’s recommendation for amendments in conditions of appointment of President and Member of the proposed GST Appellate Tribunals regarding eligibility and age

GST Council recommends nil rate for food preparation of millet flour in powder form and containing at least 70% millets by weight when sold in loose form, and 5% if sold in pre-packaged and labelled form

GST Council recommends to keep Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) used for manufacture of alcoholic liquor for human consumption outside GST

GST Council recommends reducing GST on molasses from 28% to 5% in relief to cane farmers for faster clearance of dues and to reduce cost of manufacturing cattle feed

To promote tourism, GST Council recommends conditional and limited duration IGST exemption to foreign flag foreign going vessel when it converts to coastal run.

A. Recommendations relating to GST rates on goods and services

I. Changes in GST rates of goods

GST rates on “Food preparation of millet flour in powder form, containing at least 70% millets by weight”, falling under HS 1901, with effect from date of notification, have been prescribed as:
1. 0% if sold in other than pre-packaged and labelled form
2. 5% if sold in pre-packaged and labelled form

To clarify that imitation zari thread or yarn made out of metallised polyester film /plastic film, falling under HS 5605, are covered by the entry for imitation zari thread or yarn attracting 5% GST rate. However, no refund will be allowed on polyester film (metallised) /plastic film on account of inversion.
Foreign going vessels are liable to pay 5% IGST on the value of the vessel if it converts to coastal run. GST Council recommends conditional IGST exemption to foreign flag foreign going vessel when it converts to coastal run subject to its reconversion to foreign going vessel in six months.

II. Other changes relating to Goods

GST Council recommended to keep Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) used for manufacture of alcoholic liquor for human consumption outside GST. Law Committee will examine suitable amendment in law to exclude ENA for use in manufacture of alcoholic liquors for human consumption from ambit of GST.
To reduce GST on molasses from 28% to 5%. This step will increase liquidity with mills and enable faster clearance of cane dues to sugarcane farmers. This will also lead to reduction in cost for manufacture of cattle feed as molasses is also an ingredient in its manufacture.
A separate tariff HS code has been created at 8 digit level in the Customs Tariff Act to cover rectified spirit for industrial use. The GST rate notification will be amended to create an entry for ENA for industrial use attracting 18% GST.

III. Changes in GST rates of services

Entries at Sl. No. 3 and 3A of notification No. 12/2017-CTR dated 28.06.2017 exempts pure and composite services provided to Central/State/UT governments and local authorities in relation to any function entrusted to Panchayat/ Municipality under Article 243G and 243W of the Constitution of India. The GST Council has recommended to retain the existing exemption entries with no change.
Further, the GST Council has also recommended to exempt services of water supply, public health, sanitation conservancy, solid waste management and slum improvement and upgradation supplied to Governmental Authorities.

IV. Other changes relating to Services

To clarify that job work services for processing of barley into malt attracts GST @ 5% as applicable to “job work in relation to food and food products” and not 18%.

With effect from 1^st January 2022, liability to pay GST on bus transportation services supplied through Electronic Commerce Operators (ECOs) has been placed on the ECO under section 9(5) of CGST Act, 2017. This trade facilitation measure was taken on the representation of industry association that most of the bus operators supplying service through ECO owned one or two buses and were not in a position to take registration and meet GST compliances. To arrive at a balance between the need of small operators for ease of doing business and the need of large organized players to take ITC, GST Council has recommended that bus operators organised as companies may be excluded from the purview of section 9(5) of CGST Act, 2017. This would enable them to pay GST on their supplies using their ITC.
To clarify that District Mineral Foundations Trusts (DMFT) set up by the State Governments across the country in mineral mining areas are Governmental Authorities and thus eligible for the same exemptions from GST as available to any other Governmental Authority.
Supply of all goods and services by Indian Railways shall be taxed under Forward Charge Mechanism to enable them to avail ITC. This will reduce the cost for Indian Railways.

B. Measures for facilitation of trade:

i) Amnesty Scheme for filing of appeals against demand orders in cases where appeal could not be filed within the allowable time period:

The Council has recommended providing an amnesty scheme through a special procedure under section 148 of CGST Act, 2017 for taxable persons, who could not file an appeal under section 107 of the said Act, against the demand order under section 73 or 74 of CGST Act, 2017 passed on or before the 31st day of March, 2023, or whose appeal against the said order was rejected solely on the grounds that the said appeal was not filed within the time period specified in sub-section (1) of section 107. In all such cases, filing of appeal by the taxpayers will be allowed against such orders upto 31^st January 2024, subject to the condition of payment of an amount of pre-deposit of 12.5% of the tax under dispute, out of which at least 20% (i.e. 2.5% of the tax under dispute) should be debited from Electronic Cash Ledger. This will facilitate a large number of taxpayers, who could not file appeal in the past within the specified time period.

ii) Clarifications regarding taxability of personal guarantee offered by directors to the bank against the credit limits/loans being sanctioned to the company and regarding taxability of corporate guarantee provided for related persons including corporate guarantee provided by holding company to its subsidiary company: The Council has inter alia recommended to:

(a) issue a circular clarifying that when no consideration is paid by the company to the director in any form, directly or indirectly, for providing personal guarantee to the bank/ financial institutes on their behalf, the open market value of the said transaction/ supply may be treated as zero and hence, no tax to be payable in respect of such supply of services.

(b) to insert sub-rule (2) in Rule 28 of CGST Rules, 2017, to provide for taxable value of supply of corporate guarantee provided between related parties as one per cent of the amount of such guarantee offered, or the actual consideration, whichever is higher.

(c) to clarify through the circular that after the insertion of the said sub-rule, the value of such supply of services of corporate guarantee provided between related parties would be governed by the proposed sub-rule (2) of rule 28 of CGST Rules, 2017, irrespective of whether full ITC is available to the recipient of services or not.

iii) Provision for automatic restoration of provisionally attached property after completion of one year: The Council has recommended an amendment in sub-rule (2) of Rule 159 of CGST Rules, 2017 and FORM GST DRC-22 to provide that the order for provisional attachment in FORM GST DRC-22 shall not be valid after expiry of one year from the date of the said order. This will facilitate release of provisionally attached properties after expiry of period of one year, without need for separate specific written order from the Commissioner.

iv) Clarification on various issues related to Place of Supply: The Council has recommended to issue a Circular to clarify the place of supply in respect of the following supply of services:

(i) Supply of service of transportation of goods, including by mail or courier, in cases where the location of supplier or the location of recipient of services is outside India;

(ii) Supply of advertising services;

(iii) Supply of the co-location services.

v) Issuance of clarification relating to export of services-: The Council has recommended to issue a circular to clarify the admissibility of export remittances received in Special INR Vostro account, as permitted by RBI, for the purpose of consideration of supply of services to qualify as export of services in terms of the provisions of sub-clause (iv) of clause (6) of section 2 of the IGST Act, 2017.

vi) Allowing supplies to SEZ units/ developer for authorised operations for IGST refund route by amendment in Notification 01/2023-Integrated Tax dated 31.07.2023: The Council has recommended to amend Notification No. 1/2023-Integrated Tax dated 31.07.2023 w.e.f. 01.10.2023 so as to allow the suppliers to a Special Economic Zone developer or a Special Economic Zone unit for authorised operations to make supply of goods or services (except the commodities like pan masala, tobacco, gutkha, etc. mentioned in the Notification No. 1/2023-Integrated Tax dated 31.07.2023) to the Special Economic Zone developer or the Special Economic Zone unit for authorised operations on payment of integrated tax and claim the refund of tax so paid.

C. Other measures pertaining to law and procedures:

i) Alignment of provisions of the CGST Act, 2017 with the provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 in respect of Appointment of President and Member of the proposed GST Appellate Tribunals: The Council has recommended amendments in section 110 of the CGST Act, 2017 to provide that:

an advocate for ten years with substantial experience in litigation under indirect tax laws in the Appellate Tribunal, Central Excise and Service Tax Tribunal, State VAT Tribunals, by whatever name called, High Court or Supreme Court to be eligible for the appointment as judicial member;
the minimum age for eligibility for appointment as President and Member to be 50 years;
President and Members shall have tenure up to a maximum age of 70 years and 67 years respectively.

ii) Law amendment with respect to ISD as recommended by the GST Council in its 50th meeting: GST Council in its 50^th meeting had recommended that ISD (Input Service Distributor) procedure as laid down in Section 20 of the CGST Act, 2017 may be made mandatory prospectively for distribution of ITC in respect of input services procured by Head Office (HO) from a third party but attributable to both HO and Branch Office (BO) or exclusively to one or more BOs. The Council has now recommended amendments in Section 2(61) and section 20 of CGST Act, 2017 as well amendment in rule 39 of CGST Rules, 2017 in respect of the same.

Note: The recommendations of the GST Council have been presented in this release containing major item of decisions in simple language for information of the stakeholders. The same would be given effect through the relevant circulars/ notifications/ law amendments which alone shall have the force of law.

48th Council Meeting on 17.12.2023

17.12.2022: The 48th GST Council meeting has taken place today in New Delhi. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. The GST Council GST Council recommends decriminalizing certain offenses u/s 132. But it also recommends increasing the threshold amount of tax for prosecution, and reduction in the amount of compounding in GST.

Therefore, it is not wrong to say that with the new rules the tax defaulter may get some relaxation as far as the punishment of imprisonment is concerned as per section 132. However, in return, he may have to pay the excess penalty amount to take the benefit of punishments like imprisonment. So below are the recommendations of the council related to this topic.

Raise the minimum threshold of tax amount for launching prosecution under GST from Rs. 1 Crore to Rs. 2 Crores, except for the offense of issuance of invoices without a supply of goods or services or both;
Reduce the compounding amount from the present range of 50% to 150% of the tax amount to the range of 25% to 100%;
Decriminalize certain offenses specified under clauses (g), (j), and (k) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of CGST Act, 2017, viz.-
Obstruction or preventing any officer in the discharge of his duties;
Deliberate tempering of material evidence;
Failure to supply the information.

Refund to Unregistered Persons

There is no procedure for GST refund of tax borne by an Unregistered buyer In cases where the agreement/agreements for the supply of services, such as construction Flat/house and long-term insurance policies, cancellation and period for issue of credit note Related supplier is available. Council recommended an amendment in CGST Rules, 2017 to issue a circular, prescribing the procedure for filing redressal applications for non-registered
In such cases the buyer.

Click here to Read the complete press release

47th GST Council Meeting News updates

30.06.2022: The 47th GST council meeting was held on 29th July 2022. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in Chandigarh. Here is the complete list of recommendations made by the GST council.

GST Rates Updates of 2022

The GST rates on goods and services are revised to remove the inverted duty structure. Here is the list of the affected goods and services.

Goods

Printing, writing, or drawing ink – 12% to 18%
Knives with cutting blades, Paper knives, Pencil sharpeners, and blades, therefore, Spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, etc – 12% to 18%.
Power-driven pumps primarily designed for handling water such as centrifugal pumps, deep tube-well turbine pumps, and submersible pumps; Bicycle pumps – 12% to 18%.
Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading, seed, grain pulses; Machinery used in the milling industry or for the working of cereals, etc; Pawan Chakki that is Air Based Atta Chakki; Wet grinder – 5 % to 18%.
Machines for cleaning, sorting, or grading eggs, fruit, or other agricultural produce and its parts, Milking machines, and dairy machinery – 12% to 18%.
LED Lamps, lights, and fixtures, their metal printed circuits board; – 12% to 18%.
Drawing and marking out instruments – 12% to 18%
Solar Water Heater and system – 5% to 12%.
Prepared/finished leather/chamois leather/composition leathers; – 5% to 12%

The Refund of accumulated ITC is not to be allowed on Edible oils and Coal.

Services

Sr.	Service	Old Rate	New Rate
1	Services supplied by a foreman to chit fund	12%	18%
2	Job work in relation to the processing of hides, skins, and leather	5%	12%
3	Job work in relation to the manufacture of leather goods and footwear	5%	12%
4	Job work in relation to the manufacture of clay bricks	5%	12%
5	Works contract for roads, bridges, railways, metro, effluent treatment plant, crematorium, etc.	12%	18%
6	Works contract supplied to central and state governments, local authorities for historical monuments, canals, dams, pipelines, plants for water supply, educational institutions, hospitals, etc. & sub-contractor thereof	12%	18%
7	Works contract supplied to central and state governments, union territories & local authorities involving predominantly earthwork and sub-contracts thereof	5%	12%

Other GST Rate Changes

Goods or Service	Old Rate	New Rate
Ostomy Appliances	12%	5%
Orthopedic appliance- Splints and other fracture appliances; artificial parts of the body; other appliances which are worn or carried, or implanted in the body, to compensate for a defect or disability; intraocular lens	12%	5%
Tetra Pak (Aseptic Packaging Paper)	12%	18%
Tar (whether from coal, coal gasification plants, producer Gas plants, and Coke Oven Plants.	5%/18%	18%
IGST on import of Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) tablets supplied free of cost for National Filariasis Elimination Programme	5%	Nil
Cut and Polished diamonds	0.25%	1.5%
IGST on specified defense items imported by private entities/vendors, when the end-user is the Defence forces.	Applicable rate	Nil

1.	Transport of goods and passengers by ropeways.	18%	5% (with ITC of services)
2	Renting of truck/goods carriage where the cost of fuel is included	18%	12%

46th GST Council Meeting updates & Decisions

Recommendations of the 46th GST Council Meeting

31.12.2021: The today’s GST Council has recommended to defer the decision to change the rates in textiles recommended in the 45th GST Council meeting. Similarly, the existing GST rates in textile sector would continue beyond 1st January, 2022. The amended notification is awaited.

30.12.2021: The 46th GST council meeting is to be held on 31st December 2021 at 11 am in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The meeting will be chaired by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. Besides her Mr. Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, and other Finance Ministers of States & UTs and Senior officers from Union Government & States will be present.

FM Smt. @nsitharaman will chair the 46th meeting of the GST Council in New Delhi, tomorrow. The meeting will be attended by MoS for Finance Shri @mppchaudhary & Shri @DrBhagwatKarad, besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs and Senior officers from Union Government & States. pic.twitter.com/S1rDGN0TIf
— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) December 30, 2021

It is known from reliable sources that the group of ministers will submit the report on duty inversion structure and further decisions will be taken. Also, the taxpayers can expect further GST rate rationalization on a few items.

On the other hand finance minister, Mr. Amit Mitra has tweeted four days back saying:

“Modi Govt will commit another BLUNDER on Jan 1st. By raising GST on Textiles, 5% to 12%, 15 MILLION JOBS WILL BE LOST & 1 lakh units will CLOSE. Modi ji, CALL a GST COUNCIL MEETING NOW & REVERSE DECISION before SWORD OF DAMOCLES FALLS ON HEADS OF MILLIONS OF COMMON PEOPLE”

Also, there are few other Ministers who are pushing the Govt. to reduce the GST rates on day to day used items by the common people.

Press conference by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

FM Smt. @nsitharaman to address a media briefing on the outcomes of 46th GST Council meeting at 3:00 PM (tentative) in New Delhi today.