GST Council meet: Dealers in gems, jewellery out of money laundering act

(Image: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government has put gem and jewellery dealers out of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the GST Council meeting held on Friday. It is believed that the move is taken to woo voters in the upcoming Gujarat assembly election as the decision will mainly impact traders in the poll-bound state.

#UPDATE Any person buying jewellery above Rs 50,000 will not be required to submit PAN or Aadhar Card details #GSTCouncilMeet

— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2017

Any entity dealing in gems/ jewellery/ other high-value goods & has a turnover of Rs 2 Crore or more in a FY will not be covered under PMLA

— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2017

On Friday, GST Council also raised the threshold limit for Composition Scheme to Rs 1 crore and allowed quarterly return filing for traders having Rs 1.5 crore turnover to ease the tax filing for small traders. Rs 1 crore threshold in the Composition Scheme has been approved also by the GST Council members, sources said here on the sidelines of its ongoing meeting. Under the Composition Scheme, traders have to pay a fixed tax rate between 1-5 per cent. In view of the problems being faced by traders in filing returns every month, the Council has also arrived on a consensus to also allow quarterly return filing for inter-state traders having Rs 1.5 crore turnover. Council members have approved quarterly return filings for businesses with turnover less than Rs 1.5 crore, a Council member said. But the traders will have to pay GST every month, he added. In another major decision, the Council has exempted exporters from paying Integrated GST on imported inputs for a period of six months, another member said. (With inputs from agencies)