GST Council meeting: Railway platform tickets exempted from GST push for biometric authentication
- In Reports
- 06:34 PM, Jun 24, 2024
- Myind Staff
The GST Council, in its 53rd meeting has recommended tax exemption on services provided by the Indian Railways to the general public and proposed biometric-based Aadhaar authentication to combat fake invoicing.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who chaired the GST Council meeting, announced that the sale of platform tickets and services such as retiring rooms, waiting rooms, cloakroom facilities, and battery-operated car services will now be exempt from GST. She briefed the press on the key decisions taken during the meeting.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the implementation of Pan-India biometric authentication aims to counteract fraudulent input tax credit claims facilitated by fake invoices.
Sitharaman also mentioned that another meeting will be scheduled following the budget session.
"The GST Council has recommended retrospectively amending the time limit for availing input tax credit on invoices or debit notes filed up to November 30, 2021, for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, to be considered valid from 2011 to 2021," added the Finance Minister.
The Finance Minister announced that this was the GST council's inaugural meeting since the new government took office.
Services offered by Indian Railways, such as platform tickets, waiting rooms, and battery-operated car services, have been exempted from GST, as confirmed by the Finance Minister.
The GST council has mandated Aadhaar biometric authentication for new registrations nationwide to streamline the process of GST registration.
The GST council has recommended a waiver of interest and penalty on demand notices issued under section 73 for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, provided the entire tax liability is settled by March 2025.
Furthermore, the council has proposed a uniform GST rate of 12 percent on all milk cans made of steel, iron, or aluminium, irrespective of their specific use. The decision is based on their standardised shape, which categorises them as milk cans.
Additionally, a uniform GST rate of 12 percent has been recommended for all carton boxes and cases, a move aimed at benefiting apple growers in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Finance Minister.
The GST council recommended adding functionality through form GSTR-1A to include details of the current tax period if they were missed during reporting.
They also referred a proposal to exempt the fertiliser sector from the current 5 percent GST to the Group of Ministers on rate rationalisation. This follows discussions on reducing GST rates on nutrients and raw materials crucial for fertiliser manufacturing, previously debated in meetings held in September 2021 and June 2022.
The GST Council has proposed extending the time limit to avail input tax credit under section 16(4) of the CGST Act for invoices and debit notes filed up to November 30, 2021, for the financial years 2017-18 to 2020-21.
Further, the council has set monetary limits for filing appeals: Rs 20 lakh for GSTAT, Rs 1 crore for High Courts, and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court. It has also reduced the maximum pre-deposit amount for appeals before the appellate authority from Rs 25 crore to Rs 20 crore each for CGST and SGST.
Additionally, amendments will ensure that the time limit for filing appeals before the tribunal begins from the date the government notifies the GSTAT. Moreover, the deadline for filing GSTR-4 has been extended until June 30.
Image source: The Economic Times
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