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GST Council Likely To Meet In Second Week Of June

GST Council Likely To Meet In Second Week Of June

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The GST Council is likely to meet in the second week of June according to media reports. The Council meeting will discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy of states, among other things.
The meeting of the GST council comes in the wake of repeated requests from state chief ministers in their video interactions with the Prime Minister for releasing dues to the states.

The GST council meeting is likely to discuss steps to raise compensation collections to clear the dues of the states. It is also likely to take up GST revenue trends which have hit rock bottom during the lockdown period following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The GST Council is an apex member committee which was formed to modify or reconcile any law based on goods and services tax in the country. The council is headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprises finance ministers of all the states of the country.

The scheduled GST Council meeting could turn out to be a stormy one in the light of the fact that several states have been batting for higher allocations. Chief Ministers of several states had also stressed on the need to release GST dues in their video interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Source: The-Hans-India

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GST Council to meet on September 20 in Goa

GST Council to meet on September 20 in Goa

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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to meet next on September 20 in Goa, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

“The agenda hasn’t been finalised yet. But, the healthcare industry’s demand on input tax credit maybe considered. Though it is too early to comment on the final agenda,” the official said.

Healthcare providers have been pushing for a 5 percent GST, since in the absence of input tax credit, they end up absorbing taxes paid on goods purchased from vendors. Input tax credit is not allowed as healthcare services are exempt from GST, except cosmetic surgery and hair transplant. Tax is applicable on implants and artificial limbs.

The Indian automobile sector has hit its worst phase because of a persistent liquidity crunch among India’s shadow banks, leading to a collapse in sales. In July, the passenger vehicle industry recorded its worst sales performance in nearly 19 years.

According to data released on August 13 by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, sales fell 31 percent to 200,790 vehicles last month from 290,931 units a year earlier. It was the worst sales performance since a 35 percent decline in December 2000.

Representatives from the sector had recently met the finance minister to discuss ways to revive sales. “It’s unlikely that any GST relief would be possible for us to provide as of now,” the official said.

Source: Money-Control.

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Revenue boost, returns filing on GST Council agenda

Revenue boost, returns filing on GST Council agenda

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28th gst council meeting

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its next meeting, will take stock of the improving revenue performance of states, and also consider solutions for improving the rate of filing of returns, government officials said. Additionally, the Council will also be apprised of the status of the IT system which hasn’t so far been free of complaints. According to sources in the finance ministry, the states’ GST revenue deficit, compared with the protected revenue, narrowed to 13% in the August 2017-June 2018 period, compared with 17% in the year-ago period. Till June, states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have GST revenue deficit of less than 5%.

Among large states, Punjab and Bihar have the deficit of over 30%, compared with the protected revenue. However, the number of taxpayers filing summary returns (GSTR-3B) by the stipulated deadline continues to hover around 60%, compared with the government’s own estimate of 80%, ideally. Worryingly, the filing of GSTR-1 —which contains details of outward supply — has declined over the past few months. “While there has been a 10 percentage point gap between the two returns, this has started to get wider lately. The Council may consider imposing a late fee on GSTR-1 filing, as currently there is no provision for the same,” an official said.

The Council will also consider the reports of the group of ministers (GoM) on IT issues. The committee, headed by the Bihar deputy chief minister, is believed to have recorded its concerns with Infosys’ performance. Infosys is the vendor for the GST Network. The Council will consider these reports along with proposals for improvement. Officials said many IT functionality, including advance ruling and appeal among others, are only partly ready. “The GoM has not found the progress satisfactory and asked Infosys to expedite development by deploying more resources,” an official privy with the GoM’s reports said. Additionally, taxpayers were still facing issues with GSTR-1 and TRAN-2 filing.

Also Read: 28th GST Council meet on Saturday: Return simplification, law tweaks, setting up of tribunal on table

Infosys has assured the GoM to resolve these issues by the month-end after it was asked the reason for such glitches despite server utilisation being less than 30% at peak load. The Council will also take up a report on the reasons for accumulation of unsettled integrated GST, which has been a sticky problem as it doesn’t properly reflect the revenue position of states and the Centre. Till June, over Rs 1.16 lakh crore of IGST remains unsettled even after two ad hoc settlements this year. “One of the main reasons identified for this accumulation of unsettled IGST is the balance in IGST credit ledger. Since the most important trigger for settlement of IGST into CGST/SGST is the cross utilisation of IGST credit for payment of CGST/SGST liability, a build-up of balance in IGST credit ledger will prevent full settlement of IGST,” an official said.

The report on the issue has proposed amending the GST law to make it mandatory for taxpayers to first use IGST credit for payment of CGST/SGST before using the CGST/SGST credit. This will increase the cross-utilization and help reduce the balance in IGST ledger, another official said. The proposal would be taken up by the Council for approval in its meeting on the 28th.

Source :  Financial Express
28th GST Council meet on Saturday: Return simplification, law tweaks, setting up of tribunal on table

28th GST Council meet on Saturday: Return simplification, law tweaks, setting up of tribunal on table

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The proposed amendments to the goods and services tax (GST)-related laws, simplification of GST returns, the creation of GST appellate tribunal and the revenue position of states will be among the key items slated for discussion in the upcoming 28th GST Council meeting on Saturday. 28th GST Council meet on SaturdayRate cuts and clarification for 40 handicraft items, 32 services and 35 goods including the exemption to marble/stone idols, sanitary napkins, sal leaves will also be discussed, alongside reports of six committees and ministerial panels on issues such as the imposition on cess on sugar and levies on the lottery, officials said.

A rate cut has been recommended from 28 per cent to 18 per cent for lithium-ion batteries, which are used to charge electric vehicles; for water coolers, ice cream machinery along with reduction from 28 per cent to 12 per cent for fuel cell vehicles; for bamboo flooring from 18 per cent to 12 per cent and handloom dari from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, they said.

Though items such as natural gas and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) have not been listed in the meeting agenda, a senior government official said that if time permits, the Council may discuss those items but a decision is unlikely given the revenue implications for states. “There are many listed items for the meeting, so only if time permits, natural gas/ATF could be discussed. The inclusion of natural gas is not contentious, but ATF may be a tricky item given that it contributes majorly to revenues of Delhi and Mumbai,” the official said.

The official further said that since most airlines fuel their planes in Delhi or Mumbai, the inclusion of ATF along with allowing input tax credit will result in less revenue for these two regions. “Smaller states do not earn significantly from ATF, whereas for places like Delhi and Mumbai, it is a major contributor. Allowing credit would result in the revenue stream from ATF getting split among all states instead of the current concentration in these two places. Mumbai may even recover from alternate revenue sources but for Delhi, it could mean a significant loss of revenue,” he said.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal will chair the meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council, his first time since taking charge of this portfolio. Officials said that it was considered that Union Minister Arun Jaitley may attend the meeting as a special invitee through video conferencing but it has been decided against since GST Council rules do not specify such exception and it may leave scope for the Council’s decisions getting challenged in courts later.

Apart from the rate considerations, the Council will also discuss reports of six committees and ministerial panels which include those on the lottery, Integrated GST (IGST), on creating an ecosystem for seamless road transport connectivity, digital payments, an imposition of sugar cess and reverse charge mechanism.

Given the high amount of unutilized IGST, the panel for it has recommended a change in cross utilization pattern to allow taxpayers to first use IGST credit for payment of CGST/SGST before using CGST/SGST credit. Unsettled IGST stands at about Rs 1.16 lakh crore, with two provisional settlements of Rs 35,000 crore in February and Rs 50,000 crore in June this year.

The panel on seamless connectivity has suggested doing away with check posts for pollution control certificate, payment of road tax along with the mandated recording of every instance of inspection along with recommending linking the VAHAN database with e-way bill system. The GoM on digital payments has suggested keeping the incentives on hold for now, while the panel on sugar cess has proposed a 1 per cent agricultural cess on certain commodities.

Finer details of the proposed returns simplification is also likely to be discussed. The new model proposes uploading of invoices by the supplier before 10th of next month that shall be subsequently posted in the viewing facility of the buyer by 12th of next month, who will then lock those invoices. The new returns filing model proposes single monthly return for all taxpayers except composition dealers, TDS/TCS and staggered return filing dates based on the turnover of the registered person.

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Source: Indian Express
GST Council to discuss annual return forms on Jul 21; experts expect reconciliation with ITR

GST Council to discuss annual return forms on Jul 21; experts expect reconciliation with ITR

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The format for annual returns and audit is likely to be approved by the GST Council in its meeting on July 21 and industry expects that there could be some reconciliation with annual IT returns as the government aims to check tax evasion.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out on July 1, 2017, GST Council to discuss annual return form on 21 Julyand this is the first year when businesses will have to file annual returns (GSTR-9) for 2017-18 fiscal by December 31, 2018. Also, those businesses with the turnover of more than Rs 2 crore will have to file audit reports along with the annual returns.

The revenue officers have prepared a draft of the annual returns form, which will be deliberated by the all-powerful GST Council chaired by Union Finance Minister and comprising state finance ministers as members, in its meeting on July 21. The GST Network, which manages the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime will thereafter finalize the software to enable businesses to file the returns.

Also Read: Simple Guide of GSTR 9 with Easy Online Return Filing Process, Eligibility & Rules

Tax experts said they expect the annual returns form to be in line with that in the erstwhile Value Added Tax (VAT) regime, with some columns for reconciliation with Income Tax returns and audit report. They expect the forms to be made available online by October so that the returns could be filed within the December due date.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said: “Considering the fact that the key objective of GST is to expand the tax base, it is expected that the GST annual return would require some information related to annual accounts and income tax returns, in addition to the details which were required to be submitted in the erstwhile VAT annual returns”.

They expect that in the VAT era, assessments were made on the basis of annual returns and the same process should be followed in the GST regime as well.

Experts said the businesses might commit some error in the monthly returns filed and those could get corrected in the annual returns and hence assessment should be on the basis of annual returns.

EY India Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said: “Given the first year of GST, the industry would expect the Annual Return format to be simple and if possible only require PAN-based data reconciliation with the financials and not state wise or GSTIN wise data reconciliation with financials. The said demand essentially being on account of most company IT systems not being configured to extract state wise financials”.

Under the VAT regime, businesses were required to file returns in every state where they are registered and hence linking their annual returns with that of the same filed under IT returns was not feasible.

AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said: “Some of the Industry expectations are online forms with least manual intervention seeking selected information, clarity on the need for annual state-wise financial statements and finally, deferment of GST audits in the first year”.

But, with GST being PAN based registration, it would be easier to reconcile the sales and purchases with that reported in IT returns.

As per the IT return forms notified by the income tax department, businesses filing ITR-4 (Presumptive Income From Business & Profession) will have to give information regarding turnover/gross receipt reported for GST as well as GST Identification Number (GSTIN). Besides, in ITR-6 which is to be filed by companies, businesses have to specify GST paid or refunded or credit outstanding.

Over 1.14 crore businesses are registered under the GST regime. Of these, about 18 lakh businesses have opted for composition scheme.

Source: Auto Economic times
GST Council Meet: FM and the council focus on GST Returns and Cess on Sugar

GST Council Meet: FM and the council focus on GST Returns and Cess on Sugar

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley-led GST Council will meet today to discuss a simpler return form and the GST Council : GSTN Arun Jaitleyamendments required in the indirect tax regime rules.

The 27th meeting of the Council, which is likely to have finance ministers of all states, will meet through video conferencing and also mull over the proposal of converting GSTN into a government company.

A decision on return simplification could be on the cards with the Sushil Modi-led Group of Ministers putting before the Council the three models of new return form for discussion, an official said.

With Jaitley been advised by doctors to stay in isolation to avoid contracting infection, the meeting has been planned through video conferencing. The Council had in March discussed on two models of GST returns and suggested that the GoM would work further simplification.

The official said the amendment to the law would also be taken up once the Council clears the new GST return format. One of the models presented before the Council was that provisional credit should not be granted unless the taxpayers file returns and pay taxes.

The second model stated that provisional credit could be granted to a taxpayer, but returns have to be filed within 3-4 months and taxes have to be paid or else the credit amount would be reversed.

After consulting the stakeholders, the GoM earlier this month worked out a third model for return filing as per which credit could be extended once the invoice uploaded by the supplier is verified by the purchaser on the GSTN portal.

Jaitley had earlier this month asked Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to “examine the possibility” of converting GSTN into a majority government company or a 100 per cent government company. GSTN provides the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime.

Currently, five private financial institutions — HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd — hold 51 per cent stake in GSTN, which was incorporated on March 28, 2013, in the erstwhile UPA regime.

The remaining 49 per cent stake is with the Centre and States.

Source :  The Times of India

GST Council meet on May 4, simplifying returns on agenda

GST Council meet on May 4, simplifying returns on agenda

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley-chaired GST Councilarun-jaitley-gst-council will meet on 4 May to discuss a simpler return form and the amendments required in the indirect tax regime rules.

The 27th meeting of the Council, comprising state finance ministers, will meet through video conferencing and will also mull over the proposal of converting GSTN into a government company. A decision on return simplification could be on the cards with the Sushil Modi-led Group of Ministers putting before the Council the three models of new return form for discussion, an official said.

With Jaitley been advised by doctors to stay in isolation to avoid contracting infection, the meeting has been planned through video conferencing.

The GST Council had in March discussed on two models of GST returns and suggested that the GoM would work further simplification. The official said the amendment to the law would also be taken up once the Council clears the new GST return format.

One of the models presented before the Council was that provisional credit should not be granted unless the taxpayers file returns and pay taxes. The second model stated that provisional credit could be granted to a taxpayer, but returns have to be filed within 3-4 months and taxes have to be paid or else the credit amount would be reversed. After consulting the stakeholders, the GoM earlier this month worked out a third model for return filing as per which credit could be extended once the invoice uploaded by the supplier is verified by the purchaser on the GSTN portal.

Jaitley had earlier this month asked Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to “examine the possibility” of converting GSTN into a majority government company or a 100% government company. GSTN provides the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime. Currently, five private financial institutions—HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd—hold 51% stake in GSTN, which was incorporated on 28 March 2013, in the erstwhile UPA regime. The remaining 49% stake is with the Centre and States.

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10 key takeaways of 26th GST Council Meeting

10 key takeaways of 26th GST Council Meeting

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GST E-way Bill and Composition Scheme To Be Main Agenda in Next Meeting

The 26th GST Council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today extended the existing system of filing returns by another three months.

10 key takeaways:

1. Intra-state e-way bill to be rolled out from April 15 in a staggered manner; entire country to be covered by June 1.

2. The Finance Minister extended the proposal for Reverse Charge Mechanism”There was another proposal of Reverse Charge Mechanism which has been extended for three months,” he said.

3. The formalities which need to be finalised for the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collection at Source (TCS) system, which involves linking of the accounting system of both the central and state government, has been extended until June 30.

4. States to be divided into 4 lots to execute the staggered rollout.

5. Existing system of filing returns has been extended for another 3 months and meanwhile Group of Ministers on the Income Tax will look into it & consult tax experts among others: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

6. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac: Would not want to bring new items under GST.

7. Kerala FM: Businesses will continue to file summary sales return GSTR-3B till June as the GST Council extended the present system of return filing by three months.

8. E-way Bill will be implemented from April 1 for inter-state movement of goods: FM

9. Under the GST regime, an e-way bill needs to be generated and carried for movement of all goods valued at over Rs 50,000. Jaitley also said the Council has discussed two alternate ways of return filing processes.

10. Arun Jaitley said the Group of Ministers and the IT experts would explore the models discussed today and decided on the implementation.

The Council could not decide on a simplified GST return form and entrusted the ministerial panel under Sushil Modi to chalk out a single page form which is simpler and evasion proof.

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26th GST council meet: GSTR-3B may be extended till June, simplified return forms on cards

26th GST council meet: GSTR-3B may be extended till June, simplified return forms on cards

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26th GST council meet

The GST Council in its meeting on Saturday is likely to extend the deadline for filing of simplified sales return GSTR-3B by three months till June. The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, is also expected to finalise a simplified return filing procedure for businesses registered under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. “The new return filing system, if agreed upon by the Council, would take about 3 months to be implemented. Till then GSTR-3B could continue,” an official told PTI.

The 26th GST Council meet is slated on March 10. Simplified sales return GSTR-3B was introduced in July, the month of GST roll out, to help businesses to file returns easily in the initial months of GST roll out. This was to be followed with filing of final returns — GSTR – 1, 2 and 3.

With businesses complaining of difficulty in invoice matching while filing final returns as well as complications in GSTN systems, the GST Council in November last year extended GSTR-3B filing requirement till end of March, 2018, and did away with filing of purchase return GSTR-2 and final return 3.

“GSTR-3B filing system has stabilised and businesses are comfortable. So, businesses can continue to pay taxes by filing 3B till the time new return filing system is put in place,” the official added. The last date for filing initial GSTR-3B returns for a month is the 20th of the subsequent month.

The GST Council had in January entrusted Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi led GoM to work out a simplified return filing process so that businesses can fill up only a single form to file returns under GST.

The group of ministers met last month to work out a simplified return form, but the meeting remained inconclusive.
In the GoM meet, the Centre and state officials presented their model for return simplification, while Nandan Nilekani also made his presentation. The idea is GST return form should be simplified, it should ideally be one return every month, Modi had said.

About 8 crore GST returns have been filed so far on GST Network portal since implementation of GST on July 1. In absence of anti-evasion measures and invoice matching, the GST collections have declined since July.

As per official data available, in January 57.78 lakh GSTR-3B returns were filed, which fetched Rs 86,318 crore revenue to the exchequer.

Also Read: 26th GST Council meeting likely on March 10; focus on simplification of return filing process

For December 56.30 lakh GSTR-3B were filed which fetched Rs 86,703 crore revenue to the exchequer, while in November 53.06 lakh returns were filed with total revenue of Rs 80,808 crore. Collections topped Rs 95,000 crore in the initial month of July.

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Source: Zee Business
GST E-way Bill and Composition Scheme To Be Main Agenda in Next Meeting

GST E-way Bill and Composition Scheme To Be Main Agenda in Next Meeting

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GST E-way Bill and Composition Scheme To Be Main Agenda in Next Meeting

The  successful implementation of GST E-way bill and the lower than expected Goods and Services Tax under the composite scheme is set to be the main agenda for the GST Council meeting scheduled on Saturday.“Two things will be on the top of agenda in the next GST Council meet on Saturday. First is the timely implementation of the E-way bill and secondly the falling Goods & Services Tax collection under the composite scheme. Both issues had already been flagged by the revenue secretary,” a senior finance ministry official said.

The government had decided to start the inter-state movement of goods worth more than Rs 50,000 through e-way bill mechanism with the implementation of GST. However, the E-way bill, which was to be launched on February 1, was postponed as the IT network crashed. Consequently, the system continued on a trial mode  with full implementation deferred until April 1.

Also read: What is an e-way bill and why is it important?

“Now that there is less than a month for implementation, the GST Council wants to ensure that this time there is no technical glitch. The finance secretary had already sought a report on the reasons for technical failure and a progess report. The report will be discussed in the meet,” the official said.

The second issue on the agenda is falling GST collections under the composite scheme. The collection of GST slipped marginally to Rs 86,318 crore in January, from Rs 86,703 crore in December, less than expected by the government. As many as 7.28 crore GST returns have been filed so far on the GSTN portal since the implementation of the goods and services tax. For the month of January, 56.72 lakh returns were filed.

Also read: 26th GST Council meeting on March 10; focus on simplification of return filing process

However, 1.23 lakh companies registered under the scheme have opted out and become regular taxpayers.
“The response has not been as expected. The government expected better revenue. These things will be taken up in the meeting,” the official said, adding that there will be no major overhaul in the tax slabs.
Also, while the Council will discuss the simplification of the return filing process, GSTR-3B will continue for some time.The Goods &  Services Tax Council, in its meeting in November, had extended GSTR-3B filing till March end.

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Source: New Indian Express