Recommendations of 49th GST Council Meeting

The 49th 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 besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs (with legislature) and senior
officers of the Ministry of Finance & States/ UTs.

GST Compensation : Centre would also clear the admissible final GST compensation to those States who has provided the revenue figures as certified by the Accountant General of the States amounting to Rs. 16,524 crore.

GST Appellate Tribunal : The Council adopted the report of Group of Ministers with certain modifications. The final draft amendments to the GST laws shall be circulated to Members for their comments. The Chairperson has been authorised to finalise the same.

Capacity Based Taxation and Special Composition Scheme:

With a view to plug the leakages and improve the revenue collection from the commodities like pan masala, gutkha, chewing tobacco, the Council approved the recommendations of the GoM including, inter alia,

• Capacity based levy not to be prescribed.
• Compliance and tracking measures to be taken to plug leakages/evasions.
• Exports of such commodities to be allowed only against LUT with consequential refund of accumulated ITC.
• Compensation cess levied on such commodities to be changed from ad valorem to specific tax based levy to boost the first stage collection of the revenue.
  

Rationalisation of Late fee :

Rationalization of Late fee for Annual Return: Presently, late fee of Rs 200 per day (Rs 100 CGST + Rs
100 SGST), subject to a maximum of 0.5% of the turnover in the State or UT (0.25% CGST + 0.25%
SGST), is payable in case of delayed filing of annual return in FORM GSTR-9.

The Council recommended to rationalize this late fee for delayed filing of annual return in FORM GSTR-9 for FY 2022-23 onwards, for registered persons having aggregate turnover in a financial year upto Rs 20 crore, as below:

• Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of up to Rs. 5 crores in the said financial year: Rs 50 per day (Rs 25 CGST + Rs 25 SGST), subject to a maximum of an amount calculated at 0.04 per cent. of his turnover in the State or Union territory (0.02% CGST + 0.02% SGST).

• Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of more than Rs. 5 crores and up to Rs. 20 crores in the said financial year: Rs 100 per day (Rs 50 CGST + Rs 50 SGST), subject to a maximum of an amount calculated at 0.04 per cent. of his turnover in the State or Union territory (0.02% CGST + 0.02% SGST).

Amnesty in respect of pending returns in FORM GSTR-4, FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-10: To provide relief to a large number of taxpayers, the Council recommended amnesty schemes in respect of pending returns in FORM GSTR-4, FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-10 by way of conditional.
waiver/ reduction of late fee.

Rationalization of provision of place of supply of services of transportation of goods: Council
recommended to rationalize the provision of place of supply for services of transportation of goods by
deletion of section 13(9) of IGST Act, 2017 so as to provide that the place of supply of services of
transportation of goods, in cases where location of supplier of services or location of recipient of
services is outside India, shall be the location of the recipient of services.

Changes in GST rates of Goods and Services:

Other changes relating to Goods and Services :

• It has been decided that no separate IGST shall be levied on tag-tracking or data logger devices in case where such devices are already affixed on the container.

• It has been decided to amend the entry at Sl. No. 41A of Notification No. 1/2017-Compensation Cess (Rate) so that the exemption benefit covers both coal rejects supplied to and by a coal washery, arising out of coal on which compensation cess has been paid and no input tax credit thereof has been availed by any person.
• It has been decided to extend the exemption available to educational institutions and Central and State educational boards for conduct of entrance examination to any authority, board or a body set up by the Central Government or State Government including National Testing Agency for conduct of entrance examination for admission to educational institutions.
• It has been decided to extend the dispensation available to Central Government, State Governments, Parliament and State Legislatures with regard to payment of GST under reverse charge mechanism (RCM) to the Courts and Tribunals also in respect of taxable services supplied by them such as renting of premises to telecommunication companies for installation of towers, renting of chamber to lawyers etc.

Measures for facilitation of trade:

Extension of time limit for application for revocation of cancellation of registration and one time
amnesty for past cases:

The Council has recommended amendment in section 30 of CGST Act, 2017 and rule 23 of CGST Rules, 2017 so as to provide that –

• The time limit for making an application for revocation of cancellation of registration be increased from 30 days to 90 days; where the registered person fails to apply for such revocation within 90 days, the said time period may be extended by the Commissioner, or an officer authorized by him in this behalf for a further period not exceeding 180 days.
• The Council has also recommended that an amnesty may be provided in the past cases, where registration has been cancelled on account of non-filing of the returns, but application for revocation of cancellation of registration could not be filed within the time specified in section 30 of CGST Act, by allowing such persons to file such application for revocation by a specified date, subject to certain conditions.

Amendment in section 62 of CGST Act,2017

The Council has also recommended to provide an amnesty scheme for conditional deemed withdrawal of
assessment orders in past cases where the concerned return could not be filed within 30 days of the
assessment order but has been filed along with due interest and late fee up to a specified date, irrespective of whether appeal has been filed or not against the assessment order, or whether the said appeal has been decided or not.

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.

Disclaimer:  This Article is only a knowledge sharing initiative and is based on the Relevant Provisions as applicable and as per the information existing at the time of the preparation. In no event RMPS & Co. or the Author or any other persons be liable for any direct and indirect result from this Article or any inadvertent omission of the provisions, update etc if any.

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