49th GST Council Meeting tommorow: Know the agenda

On February 18, a Saturday, the GST Council will hold its 49th meeting in Delhi. The conference, which will be presided over by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is expected to explore the establishment of appeal tribunals and other methods to stop tax evasion in the pan masala and gutkha industries.

To guarantee equity in membership, these tribunals will contain one judicial and one technical member from either the Center or the states.

It is unlikely that the Group of Ministers will present its eagerly anticipated report at the upcoming meeting on online gambling and the GST appeal tribunal.

Following the presentation of the union budget earlier this month, which promised to extend the 50-year interest-free loan to states for an additional year to enable their capital spending, the Council is holding its 49th meeting.

The Centre is eager to investigate if the current 28% GST rate on cement may be reduced. Nirmala Sitharaman, the union’s finance minister, stated earlier this month that a team of officers will look into it. But, it’s unlikely that this will be discussed during the meeting on Saturday.

On December 17, 2022, the GST Council convened its 48th meeting via video conference.

The GST Council suggested decriminalising three separate offences, including tampering with tangible evidence, at its most recent meeting.

They deal with impeding or stopping officers from carrying out their responsibilities, purposeful tampering with tangible evidence, and withholding information.

The conference also resulted in the rise from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crore in the tax threshold limit required to initiate legal action for any criminal offence covered by the GST laws. Nonetheless, crimes like false invoicing would not fall under this category.

In addition, Tax rates on the husk from pulses and knives were lowered from 5% to 0%.

Ether alcohol purchased with the intention of mixing ethanol was exempt from Tax. It was previously taxed at 18%.

With effect from July 1, 2017, the country implemented the Goods and Services Tax, and under the terms of the GST (Compensation to States Act, 2017), states were guaranteed compensation for any revenue losses resulting from the adoption of GST for a five-year period.

Cess is imposed on specific items in order to fund the compensation of States, and the amount of Cess collected is added to the Compensation Fund. With effect from July 1, 2017, compensation to States is paid out of the Compensation Fund.