GST hotel tariff cut expected to be offset by tourism growth and central revenue compensation.
The GST Council reduced tax on hotel room tariffs; the state expects increased tourism will compensate potential revenue loss. The state has faced a substantial GST collection shortfall that the Centre has been compensating, and that central compensation will continue for a limited period. The state intends to consult the Union government thereafter to adopt appropriate fiscal measures, relying on tourism as the principal revenue source to mitigate the impact of the tariff reduction.

GST rate adjustments and ITC revisions recommended to recalibrate hotel, catering, job work taxation and targeted exemptions.
The Council recommended targeted GST rate adjustments and ITC eligibility changes for hospitality, catering and specified job work services, alongside prospective exemptions for warehousing of listed agricultural commodities and extensions of conditional export freight relief. It proposed place of supply notifications for specified R&D and intermediary services to foreign recipients, reverse charge treatment for securities lending with transitional clarifications, and miscellaneous measures including royalty forward charge option for authors and non supply treatment for state liquor licences.

GST rate revisions implemented to reclassify goods, adjust exemptions and harmonise concessions across sectors including exports.
The Council approved comprehensive GST rate changes effective 1 October 2019, including targeted rate reductions and selected increases, sectoral concessions for petroleum operations and nominated agencies, exemptions for specified defence and event related supplies, temporal relief for internally disputed tax periods, export promotion IGST/GST exemptions, a rebalanced compensation cess framework for certain passenger vehicles, exclusion of aerated drink manufacturers from composition, and miscellaneous technical and classification clarifications for a range of goods.

GST return reforms: MSME annual return relief, deferred new-return rollout, and ITC restrictions for non-compliant suppliers.
Recommendations provide compliance relief and procedural adjustments: waiver of FORM GSTR-9 for composition taxpayers and optional GSTR-9 for eligible small taxpayers for specified years; a Committee to simplify annual return and reconciliation forms; deferment of the new return system to April 2020 with transitional due dates for GSTR-3B and GSTR-1; restrictions on input tax credit where suppliers fail to furnish outward-supply statements; issuance of uniform circulars on refund procedure and ITeS supply characterisation; rescission of a circular on post-sales discounts; integrated refund disbursal by a single authority; and in-principle Aadhaar linkage for registration and targeted restrictions on credit for risky taxpayers.

Fraudulent Input Tax Credit scheme uncovered: bogus SEZ/IGST refund invoices led to multiple arrests and asset seizures.
A criminal scheme generated fraudulent Input Tax Credit via bogus invoices and sham supplies to SEZs to obtain IGST refunds; around sixty dummy firms and nominal proprietors were used, searches recovered unaccounted cash and bank accounts were provisionally attached, four accused were arrested, and offenses under Section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017, were invoked.

Fraudulent IGST refund claims exposed - coordinated tax intelligence operation targets exporters for bogus Input Tax Credit and refund schemes.
Coordinated enforcement action targeted schemes of exporters claiming fraudulent IGST refunds by using bogus Input Tax Credit. Data analytics applied red-flag indicators to Customs export and GST data revealing negligible cash tax payments, ineligible or fake supplier invoices, and exporters utilizing purported ITC to pay IGST and claim refunds. Simultaneous pan India searches uncovered many non existent or fictitious entities; preliminary records indicate substantial alleged bogus ITC and IGST refunds under examination, and intercepted export consignments are being examined for mis-declaration.

GST rate reduction on tourism sought to boost competitiveness; state to press the proposal at the GST Council meeting.
Request for GST rate reduction on tourism: Goa will present a proposal at the GST Council seeking a lower GST rate for tourism services, advanced by the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa and to be raised by the Chief Minister with the Union Finance Minister. The state's Council representative supports a reduction and signals a lower alternative rate if the primary proposal is not accepted, with final determination to be made by the GST Council.

GST revenue collection shows component breakdown, IGST settlements to central and state revenues and modest year on year growth.
GST revenue collection for August 2019 reports total gross receipts with component shares of CGST, SGST, IGST (including imports) and cess; states of GSTR 3B filing compliance are noted. The government effected regular IGST settlements to CGST and SGST and states and centre received specified net revenues after settlement. The statement compares August receipts and the April-August period year on year, highlighting domestic growth, a decline in GST on imports, filing deadline extensions in flood affected districts, and the release of GST compensation to states.