GST Council Meet: FM Nirmala Sitharaman To Chair Two-Day Meet In Chandigarh Today. Know What's On Agenda

The Council is likely to make changes in GST rates on certain items and may agree with the officers panel's recommendations to maintain status quo in rates of over 215 items

The GST Council is scheduled to meet for two days starting Tuesday for the first time after the introduction of the new indirect tax regime. The two-day meeting will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and will comprise representatives of all states and UTs. It will also be the first meeting in the current calendar year. The meeting of the Council after a gap of six months is scheduled at Hotel Hyatt at 11 am in Chandigarh.

What’s on agenda?

The Council is likely to make changes in goods and services tax (GST) rates on certain items and may agree with the officers panel's recommendations to maintain status quo in rates of over 215 items, reported news agency PTI.

Apart from this, issues like compensation to the states and relief in the registration rules of small e-commerce suppliers will also be discussed during the meeting. The Council will consider measures to prevent tax evasion as central and state governments remain under pressure to mobilise revenue to manage spiralling deficits.

The Council may discuss compensation payout to states with Opposition-ruled states seeking continuation beyond the five-year period, which ends in June.

The officers' panel or the Fitment Committee has proposed major changes in the tax rates, including uniform 5 per cent GST rate on prostheses (artificial limbs) and orthopaedic implants (trauma, spine, and arthoplasty implants), as per PTI report. Orthoses (splints, braces, belts and calipers), too, have been proposed in the lowest bracket of 5 per cent. Currently, these goods attract tax rate of either 12 and 5 per cent. The committee has also suggested reduction in GST rate on ropeway travel to 5 per cent from 18 per cent currently with ITC, Himachal Pradesh placing this request before the GST Council in September last year.

It is expected that a clarification would be issued on GST rates on electric vehicles, to state that EVs, whether fitted with battery or not, would attract 5 per cent tax rate.

The Council is likely to waive the requirement for filing refund claims and may also extend the timeline for certain return filing without late fees, reported Business Standard.

The GST Council will also be presented two reports of group of state finance ministers. The GoM on rate rationalisation will present its interim report suggesting some correction in inverted duty structure and doing away of some exemptions, while the panel for deciding rates on casinos, horse racing and online gaming is likely to suggest the highest 28 per cent slab for such activities, reported PTI.