The GST Council today met for the 21st time to discuss some of the issues after the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax or GST. During the meet, various states raised the challenges faced by traders and enterprises in registering and filing GST returns.

The major highlights of the meeting are as under:

• The last date for filing of sales return or GSTR-1 has been extended by a month to October 10 instead of September 10 earlier.
• The Council increases cess on mid-sized cars by 2%, big cars by 5 % and SUV by 7%. No change in small cars, 13-seater vehicles & hybrid cars.
• The deadline for GSTR-3B—a self-declaration form—have been extended by four months.
• Handicraft artisans with annual earnings of upto Rs 20 lakh will not require GST registration.
• The governement decided to form a 3-member inter-ministerial team to look at the functioning of GSTN to address issues faced by users while uploading GST returns
• The Council discussed tax rates of 134 items, including unbranded food products.
• Businesses selling branded food are deregistering their brands to evade tax as unbranded food is not taxed. The fitment committee proposed to the GST Council to consider May 15, 2017, as the cut-off date for considering a brand as registered for the purpose of levy of GST, irrespective of whether or not the brand is subsequently deregistered.

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Source: GST India Expert