GST Council Meeting: Key Highlights of 48th GST Council Meeting

The 48th GST Council meeting held in National Capital Delhi on today i.e. 17th December through virtual mode. Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, chairs the meeting, where the Finance Ministers of the states/Union Territories of India were presented.

The Council meeting ended without any decisions on the much-anticipated GST Appellate Tribunals, as well as the tax rate on gutkha and pan masala.

Below are the following key highlights of 48th GST Council Meeting:

1. The GST Council agreed to decriminalized certain offences such as officer obstruction, failure to provide information.

2. The threshold limit for filing GST offences has been raised to two crores, except in the case of fake invoices.

3. Ethyl alcohol is subject to a 5% GST in the case of blended petrol.

4. Insurance companies’ no-claim bonuses are exempt from GST.

5. Unregistered Suppliers’ items can be supplied by E-Commerce Portals.

6. The issue of a mechanism to combat tax evasion in pan masala and gutkha industries was also not addressed.

7. No Decision on GST Appellate Tribunal.

8. The GoM report was not even distributed to GST Council members.

9. GST on online gaming and casinos was not discussed.

10. GST on husk of pulses was decreased to nil from 5 per cent.