New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) In a bid to give relief to small businesses, the GST Council Thursday doubled the exemption limit and raised the threshold for availing the composition scheme.

The GST Council doubled the GST exemption limit to ₹ 20 lakh for north eastern states and ₹ 40 lakh for the rest of the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

The scope of the GST Composition Scheme, under which small traders and businesses pay a small tax based on turnover rather than value addition, was raised to ₹ 1.5 crore from ₹ 1 crore.

The twin move would give relief to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), he said.

The council also allowed Kerala to levy 1 per cent calamity cess on intra-state sales for a period of up to two years.

On including real estate and lottery under the Goods and Services Tax, the council decided for form a seven-member group of ministers after differences of opinion emerged at the meeting, he said.

GST exemption threshold increased and composition scheme turnover cap raised, expanding relief for small businesses. The fiscal framework raised the GST exemption limit to higher region-specific thresholds and increased the turnover cap for the Composition Scheme, altering registration and tax-payment obligations for micro, small and medium enterprises. Separately, a State was authorised a temporary intra-state calamity levy and a seven-member group was formed to review potential sectoral inclusion in GST.