Minutes of the 1st GST Council Meeting held on 22nd and 23rd September 2016

GST Council meeting sets implementation date, thresholds, compensation base year, and cross-empowerment principles for tax administration.

The Council approved Rules of Procedure with amendments on nomenclature, representation under President's Rule, agenda circulation timelines, substitute attendance (speaking but non-voting) and Chairperson discretion; fixed 1 April 2017 as the GST implementation date with staged IT, legislative and training milestones; set exemption threshold at Rs. 20 lakhs (Rs. 10 lakhs for Special Category States) and composition threshold at Rs. 50 lakhs (excluding manufacturers and service providers); decided 2015-16 as the compensation base year with compensable revenue to include all subsumed taxes and quarterly tentative payments subject to final audit; and advanced but did not finalise a cross-empowerment protocol for joint Union-State administration of scrutiny and audit, with alternatives including a Rs. 1.5 crore turnover division.