GST COUNCIL MEETING UPDATES

With the completion of five years of India’s GST law, the GST Council has conducted its 47^th Council Meeting with the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. GST Council has allowed Amendments in GSTR-3B (Monthly GST return for taxpayers). Further, it permitted Auto-Population of most details in Form GSTR-3B and in Form GSTR-9 for better and easy compliance.

RELIEF TO INTRASTATE E-COMMERCE SUPPLIERS

GST Council have agreed to ease compliance bottlenecks for e-commerce suppliers. It allowed the e-commerce suppliers to register under the composition scheme for intrastate supplies easing their registration hassles and for reducing tax outgo. The new composition scheme for e-commerce suppliers for intrastate online sales will be implemented on 1st Jan 2023, once the IT system is set up. It means that such intrastate e-commerce suppliers will no longer need to obtain mandatory GST registration if their turnover does not exceed the limit of Rs.40 lakh (goods) or Rs.20 lakh (services) or such lower limits defined for some states/UTs. However, Interstate suppliers on e-commerce platforms shall have to obtain registration irrespective of turnover, compulsorily.

DEADLINE EXTENSIONS TO COMPOSITION TAXPAYERS

• GSTR-4 for FY 2021-22 to get a waiver of late fee for filing up to 28th July 2022 as against earlier extension of up to 30th June 2022.
• CMP-08 deadline for Apr-Jun 2022 (Q1 of FY 2022-23) to get an extension up to 30th July 2022 from 18th July 2022.

CORRECTION OF INVERTED TAX STRUCTURE

DESCRIPTION OF GOODS & SERVICES	OLD RATE	NEW RATE
Solar water heaters and systems	5%	12%
Prepared or finished leather or chamois leather or composition leathers	5%	12%
Job work for processing of hides, skins, leather, making of leather products including footwear, and clay brick manufacturing	5%	12%
Earthwork works contracts and sub-contracts to the Central and state governments, Union Territories and local authorities	5%	12%
Pawan Chakki being air-based atta chakki, wet grinder, cleaning, sorting or grading machines for seeds and grain pulses, and milling machines or cereal making machines, etc;	5%	18%
Ink for drawing, printing, and writing	12%	18%
Knives with paper knives, cutting blades, pencil sharpeners and its blades, skimmers, cake-servers, spoons, forks, ladles, etc	12%	18%
Centrifugal pumps, submersible pumps deep tube-well turbine pumps, bicycle pumps that are power-driven mainly for handling water	12%	18%
Milking machines and dairy machinery, cleaning, sorting or grading machines and its parts for eggs, fruit or other agri produce	12%	18%
Lights and fixture, LED lamps, their metal printed circuits board	12%	18%
Marking out and drawing instruments	12%	18%
Services by foreman to chit fund	12%	18%
Works contract for railways, metro, roads, bridges, effluent treatment plant, crematorium, etc.	12%	18%
Works contract and sub-contract to the Central and state governments, local authorities for canals, dams, pipelines, plants for water supply, historical monuments, educational institutions, hospitals, etc	12%	18%

GST RATE HIKES

DESCRIPTION OF GOODS & SERVICES	OLD RATE	NEW RATE
What’s costlier
Cut and Polished diamonds	0.25%	1.50%
Tetra Pack (Aseptic Packaging Paper)	12%	18%
Tar (From coal, or coal gasification plants, or producer gas plants and coke oven plants)	5%/18%	18%

GST RATE CUTS

Description of goods or services	Old Rate	New Rate
Import of tablets called Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) free of cost for National Filariasis Elimination Programme (IGST)	5%	Nil
Import of particular defence items by private businesses or suppliers for end-consumption of Defence (IGST)	Applicable rates	Nil
Ostomy Appliances	12%	5%
Orthopedic appliances such as intraocular lens, artificial parts of the body, splints and other fracture appliances, other appliances which are worn or carried, or body implants, to compensate for a defect or disability	12%	5%
Transport of goods and passengers by ropeways (with ITC of services)	18%	5%
Renting of truck or goods carriage including the fuel cost	18%	12%

SNIPPING OF GST EXEMPTIONS

DESCRIPTION OF GOODS & SERVICES	OLD RATE	NEW RATE
Earlier fully exempted, now withdrawn
Maps and hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds, including atlases, wall maps, topographical plans and globes, printed	Nil	12%
Cheques, lose or in book form	Nil	18%
Parts of goods of heading 8801	Nil	18%
Air transportation of passengers to and from north-eastern states and Bagdogra now restricted to economy class	Nil	Condition added
Transportation by rail or a vessel of railway equipment and material, storage or warehousing of commodities attracting tax such as copra, nuts, spices, jaggery, cotton, etc, fumigation in a warehouse of agri produce, services by RBI, IRDA, SEBI, FSSAI, and GSTN, renting of residential dwelling to GST-registered businesses, and services by the cord blood banks for preserving stem cells	Nil	Applicable rate
Room rent (excluding ICU) exceeding Rs.5,000 per patient day taxed without ITC	Nil	5%
Common bio-medical waste treatment facilities for treating or disposing biomedical waste shall be taxed with availability of ITC, like CETPs	Nil	12%
Hotel accommodation priced up to Rs.1,000 per day	Nil	12%
Training or coaching in recreational activities on arts or culture, or sports other than by individuals	Nil	Applicable rate
Earlier partially exempted, now withdrawn
Petroleum/ Coal bed methane	5%	12%
e-Waste	5%	18%
Scientific and technical instruments to public funded research institutes	5%	Applicable rate