Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during a press conference. (PTI Photo)GST Council Meeting Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 45th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting today in Lucknow where the council discussed bringing petrol and diesel under the GST regime as asked by the Kerala High Court, however, the Council decided against putting petrol and diesel under GST.
Apart from this, the minister also announced that concessional GST rates on Covid-19 related medicines which were applicable till September 30, have extended till December 31, 2021.
GST on Cancer-related drugs such as Keytruda reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, Sitharaman said.
Additionally the finance minister informed that online retaurant aggregators such as Swiggy, Zomato will pay GST on restaurant service supplied through them. The tax is to be charged at point of delivery.
- GST Council extends concessional GST rates on drugs used in COVID treatment till Dec 31: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
- GST Council cuts tax rates on medicines used in cancer treatment from 12 pc to 5 pc: FM
- GST rate on biodiesel for blending with diesel cut from 12 pc to 5 pc: FM Sitharaman after GST Council meeting
- GST Council agrees to correct inverted duty structure on footwear and textiles from Jan 1, 2022: FM
- GST Council felt it isn't time to bring petroleum products under GST regime: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
- FM Sitharaman said a group of state ministers (GoM) to look at rate rationalisation related issues, make recommendations in 2 months
- E-commerce operators Swiggy, Zomato to pay GST on restaurant service supplied through them; tax to be charged at point of delivery: FM
(inputs from PTI)
"It has been decided to form one Group of Ministers to look at issues related to GST rate rationalization such as anomalies in rate structure, the GoM will come back on this with great clarity on the issue, within 2 months after its formation," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
"Another GoMs will be formed to look into related issues of e-way bills, FASTAGs, technology, compliances, plugging of loopholes, composition schemes & so on - GoM will help ensure max. use of tech and to ensure those gaming the system do not succeed," she added.
"Regarding Swiggy-like operators and gig offices, it has been decided that since the place where food is delivered will be the point where tax is collected, the Swiggy-like operator who will be collecting tax will pay up the GST on it," the finance minister said.
There is no new tax. Previously the tax was paid by restaurants but now aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy will pay the tax, the GST Council decided.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the inverted duty scheme on the footwear and textile sector will be corrected from January 2022.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced reduction in the GST rate on biodiesel which is supplied to oil marketing companies for blending with diesel from 12% to 5%
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, I make it absolutely clear that this came on today's agenda purely because of the Kerala High Court order where it suggested the matter to be placed before GST Council, GST Council members made it clear they do not want petroleum products to be included under GST.
"It was decided, we will report to Kerala HC that, matter has been discussed & Council felt it was not the time to bring petroleum products under GST," she said.
GST on Cancer-related drugs such as Keytruda reduced from 12% to 5%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Covid-19 medicines with concessional GST rates include:
Amphotericin B (0%)
Tocilizumab (0%)
Remdesivir (5%)
Heparin (5%) - concessional GST rates extended till Dec 31, 2021
Concessional GST rates on Covid-19 related medicines were announced earlier, that were applicable till September 30, these concessions have now been extended till December 31, 2021, the finance minister said. The extension is being given only for medicines which were given exemption earlier, she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced GST exemption on several life-saving drugs.
"There are some life-saving drugs not connected with Covid-19, but are very expensive, for which exemptions are being given.. There wouldn't be GST on them - Zolgngelsma and Viltepso costing around Rs 16 crore will now be exempted from GST," she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the media on GST Council Meet outcome
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's press conference has been slightly delayed as the GST Council meeting is still in progress, the finance ministry has tweeted.
Ahead of the 45th GST council meeting, the Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK) and other organisations working on tobacco regulation have urged the Karnataka government to seek a hike in the compensation cess on all tobacco products so that they become unaffordable for the vulnerable, especially children.
Representatives of Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK) met commercial tax commissioner C Shikha, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s secretary V Ponnuraj and discussed the need to hike tobacco tax, reduce tobacco consumption to augment the revenue of the government amid the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to read
Tomorrow, the GST Council is set to meet. Although the agenda focuses on specifics, the time is ripe to take up a broader objective: Leaving the disputes behind and constructing a way forward for GST, one of the major policy achievements of the government.
What has set back the GST for the past year and a half? The contributors are many but the critical one has been simply a lack of revenues. The chart tells the story. In 2016-17 the various taxes that were folded into the GST yielded revenues of Rs 9.7 lakh crore (Economic Survey, 2017-18). Initially, the GST performed well, with collections soaring to Rs 11.8 lakh crore in the first full year of implementation in 2018-19. But in 2019-20, the growth rate decelerated sharply. And in 2020-21, collections actually fell. Click here to read the opinion
In August, GST revenue collection stood at Rs 1,12,020 crore. This was lower than the Rs 1.16 lakh crore collected in July but was still 29.6 per cent higher than the year-ago period. Click here to read
Amid state governments’ apprehensions over a possible move by the Centre to bring petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar has said any attempt by the Union government to alter tax structures that adversely impact states’ revenue generation will be opposed.
“Although nobody is speaking in public, there is a serious move on part of the Centre to bring petrol and diesel under GST citing one nation, one tax regime. While the centre has the right to evolve its own rules, any policy decision that adversely affects state revenue is not acceptable. In the name of the uniform tax regime, if states’ right to taxation are curbed it will be opposed tooth and nail,” said Pawar ahead of the GST Council meeting scheduled to be held in Lucknow on Friday. Click here to read
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address the media on the outcomes of 45th GST Council meeting at 6:30 pm (tentative) in Lucknow today, the finance ministry informed in a tweet.