Goods and GST Bill passed

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Dear All,

GST Bill is passed in Rajya Sabha on 03. 08.2016.

A panel under chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has recommended a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5%, with a standard rate of 17-18% be levied on most goods and all services.

But, there has been no agreement yet on rates of various goods and services, which remains a tricky issue. According to the Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha in May 2015, the rates were to be decided by a GST council headed by the central finance minister with state finance ministers as members.

Let us wait.

Thanks.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet have also approved the SGST Bill today. The decision was taken at the fifth cabinet meeting of the state government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

With this, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand becomes sixth and seventh state to pass SGST Bill after Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

“The complexity in taxes was a tax in itself. The GST is aimed to reduce these complexities and turn the country’s into a developing economy ,” said Shekhawat, Industry Minister.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Uttar Pradesh government today approved implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the state and the same will be passed in the Assembly in the session commencing from May 15.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Finance Ministry will be setting up a new dedicated team to dispose of the cases related to tax issues pending before the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. As per the ministry sources, a separate Legacy Commissionarate will be established at the zonal level, which will be headed by Commissioner level officer whose responsibility will be to resolve the cases which are pending before the department.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Once the GST is implemented from July 1st onwards then all the new disputed cases will be handled by the GST Council team itself. Also, the current cases, which are pending before the CBEC for several years, will be handled and disposed of by the Legacy Commissionarate.

[JAIPRAKASH RUIA]

Dear Experts,

Please explain the following clause for Input tax credit of Chapter V of RGST Act 2017.

below is excluded from ITC :

(d) goods or services or both received by a taxable person for construction of an immovable property (other than plant and machinery) on his own account including when such goods or services or both are used in the course or furtherance of business;

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

In my view goods or services used for construction of immovable property is excluded from the definition of input tax credit.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The committee tasked to fit rates of items under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime will meet on Friday and Saturday to finalise GST rates for individual items, a senior finance ministry official told Bloomberg Quint.

Once the committee comprising state and central government officials fixes rates, these will be tabled before the GST Council in its next meeting on May 18-19. The council will then take a final call on individual rates for different commodities.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman Vanaja Sarna had told BloombergQuint in an interview that the rates on precious metals will be decided after rates on all other items are finalised.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

According to the official cited above, the GST Council will also decide exemptions to be given to specific industries.

Some working groups set up by the CBEC to address sector-specific concerns have submitted their report, while some are yet to submit their reports, the official added.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

All the above reports will be submitted before the council's next meeting, which will then decide whether certain industries will get exemptions in the new indirect tax regime, the official said.

The apex indirect tax body was also instructed by the Prime Minister's Office to follow certain parameters while fixing GST rates closer to the existing tax rates, another senior finance ministry official told Bloomberg Quint.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday assured that new rates under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime will not bring any “surprise” as they won’t be significantly different from the existing rates.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

“We are now in the final stages of fixing tariffs for different commodities. The formula under which it is being done has also been explained, and therefore, nobody is going to taken by surprise, it’s not going to be very significantly different,” Jaitley said while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industries’ annual summit.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The GST Council has finalised four rate categories of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent after unifying levies like central excise, service tax and VAT. Fitment will be done by adding the total incidence of current taxation (central plus state levies) and then putting the good or service in the tax bracket closest to it.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Jaitley said the GST Council has so far had 13 meetings and has never had to resort to voting to decide on any issue. “And therefore, all states representing different political complexions have all agreed (on GST structure),” he said.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Jaitley also pointed out that the reduction in tax rates should be passed on to consumers by companies, and this principle cannot be questioned.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The government has included an enabling provision in the Central Goods and Services Tax Bill, which asks for passing the benefits on tax reduction to consumers.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The GST laws approved by Parliament have incorporated an anti-profiteering provision to ensure that the reduction of tax incidence is passed on to the consumers.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The all important and most powerful body-GST Council has released its logo. Arun Goyal, additional secretary, GST Council tweeted to inform about the logo launch. GST Council was formed on 12th September 2016.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which the Centre intends to roll out from July 1, may turn out to be a record-keeping headache for firms, based on draft rules issued for accounts and records.

AI Summary

Goods and Services Tax consolidation creates a dual GST framework with GST Council oversight and a shared IT platform for compliance.
Goods and Services Tax establishes a destination based, dual tax framework subsuming central and state indirect levies, administered through a GST Council and implemented via a shared IT platform (GSTN). The model law sets out registration and return regimes, HSN/SAC classification by turnover bands, input tax credit carry forward, composition and reverse charge rules, refund and valuation procedures, compensation to states during transition, and institutional arrangements for cross empowerment, adjudication and dispute resolution.