GST Council Meeting Updates & Highlights

Following are the key decisions taken in the 38th GST Council Meeting held on 18th December, 2019:

• Entities with a government stake (Central or State Govt.) of 20% or more will be exempted from GST payments applicable on long-term lease of industrial/financial infrastructure plots with effect from 1st January, 2020. Earlier, this exemption was only applicable to entities with a government stake of 50% or more.
• GST will be levied uniformly at the rate of 28% on both State run and State authorized lottery with effect from 1st March, 2020.
• GST on various types of plastic bags/ containers (HS code 3923/ 6305) has been raised to 18% from 12%, with effect from 1st January, 2020.
• The due date to file GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2017-18 is extended to 31st January, 2020.

Input Tax Credit for invoices/debit notes that have not been specified in GSTR-2A will be restricted to 10% of the value of eligible ITC for invoices/ debit notes reflected in GSTR-2A.

The following are key highlights of 37th GST council meeting:

1. Waiver of the requirement of filing Form GSTR-9A for composition taxpayers of MSMEs for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19.

2. Filing Form GSTR-9 has been made optional for MSME taxpayers with an aggregate turnover of up to Rs. 2 crores for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19.

3. New GST return system will be introduced from April, 2020 (earlier proposed from October, 2019).

4. Import of Silver/Platinum by specified nominated agencies, including Diamond India Limited (DIL) will be exempted from GST.

5. Supply of Silver/Platinum by specified nominated agency, including DIL to exporters for exports of jewellery will be exempted from GST.

6. Integrated refund system with disbursal by a single authority will be introduced from 24th September, 2019.

7. GST Compensation Cess reduced on passenger vehicles.

Vehicle Type	Diesel Vehicle	Petrol Vehicle
Engine Capacity	1500cc	1200cc
Length	Not exceeding 4m	Not exceeding 4m
Carrying capacity	More than 10 persons but up to 13 persons	More than 10 persons but up to 13 persons
GST Compensation Cess	3%	1%

8. Aerated drink manufactures will be excluded from composition scheme.

9. GST rate reduced on hotel accommodation.

Transaction Value per unit per day (Rs.)	GST Rate
Rs. 1000 and less	Nil
Rs. 1001 to Rs. 7500	12%
Rs. 7501 and more	18%

10. GST reduced on Outdoor Catering Services, excluding those in premises having daily tariff on unit of accommodation of Rs. 7501 or more from 18% with ITC to 5% without ITC.

Changes in GST rates on goods

Goods	Old GST Rate	New GST rate
REDUCTIONS
Parts of slide fasteners	18%	12%
Marine fuel 0.5% (FO)	18%	5%
Wet grinders (consisting stone as a grinder)	12%	5%
Dried tamarind	5%	Nil
Plates and cups made of leaves/flowers/bark	5%	Nil
Cut and semi-polished precious stones	3%	0.25%
INCREMENTS
Railway wagons, coaches, rolling stock (without refund of accumulated Input Tax Credit/ITC)	5%	12%
Caffeinated beverages	18%	28% + 12% cess

The 36th GST Council Meeting was held on 27th July 2019 and presided by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam. During the meeting the council made the following recommendations regarding change in GST rates which are effective from 1st August 2019: 

• The GST rate on electric vehicles reduced to 5% from the current rate of 12%.
• The GST rate on electric vehicle chargers and charging stations to be reduced to 5% from the current 12%.
• GST exemption introduced for local authorities hiring electric buses with passenger capacity of 12 or more. 

The 36th GST council meeting also recommended 2 key changes in current GST laws: 

• Deadline for submission of Form GST CMP-08 for April 2019 to June 2019 quarter extended to 31st August 2019 from current deadline of 31st July 2019. 
• Extension of deadline for submission of Form GST CMP-02 extended from 31st July 2019 to 30th September 2019.

The 35th GST Council Meeting was the first to be conducted after the 2019 General Elections and was presided over by the new Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The following are the highlights of this GST Council Meeting held on 21st June 2019:

• GST Council announces extension of the date for filing annual returns to 30th August 2019. Thus the deadline for GST filing has been extended by 2 months.
• A new single-form GST return has been introduced which will be implemented in January 2020.
• The GST council clarified that Aadhaar (and Aadhaar OTP) can be used for GST Registration instead of the need to submit multiple documents under earlier GST registration rules.
• Tenure of the anti-profiteering authority has been extended by an additional 2 years as per the 35th GST Council Meeting announcement. The key activity carried out by the anti-profiteering authority include dealing with customer complaints related to companies not passing on GST rate cut benefits.
• GST Council also approved a penalty not exceeding 10% which is applicable to entities that have not passed on GST rate cut benefit to customers in contravention of applicable rules.
• While no recommendation was made by the GST Council regarding GST rate cut on electric vehicles/electric vehicle chargers, the possibility of such revisions has been referred to a designated fitment committee.

The 34th GST Council Meeting was held on 19th March 2019 and mainly focused on providing clarifications regarding the new real estate rates of 1% (for affordable housing) and 5% (for non-affordable housing) applicable from 1st April 2019 onwards.

Option of retaining existing GST Rate for On-going Projects

In case of on-going projects, promoters will get the one-time option of paying tax at the old GST on real estate rates of 8% (for affordable housing) and 12% (for non-affordable housing) with input tax credit benefit. This option is available only in cases where construction/booking of under construction flats has started before 1st April 2019 and has not been completed by 31st March 2019. This is to be provided as a one-time option and promoters will have the option of availing this benefit within a pre-determined time period.

Applicability of New GST Rates on Real Estate

The GST Council has also provided clarification regarding applicability of the new GST Rates for real estate sector. The following are the key criteria for applicability of the new rates of GST on real estate:

• New 1% rate without input tax credit (ITC) for affordable housing segment. Affordable housing defined as those with area of 60 sq. meters in metros and 90 sq. meters in non-metros with value of Rs. 45 lakh or less.
• The 1% GST rate without ITC is also applicable to housing projects being constructed by state/central government that currently feature the 8% GST rate with ITC.
• Housing in the non-affordable segment will feature the new 5% rate of GST without ITC on houses booked after 1st April 2019. If booking has been made prior to 1st April 2019, the new rate will be applicable only to instalments paid after 1st April 2019.

Conditions for New GST Rate on Real Estate Implementation  

In the 34th GST Council Meeting, the council has provided further clarification regarding the implementation of new rates for real estate. The following are key conditions for applicability of the new real estate GST rates:

• No input tax credit can be claimed by the promoter.
• Those opting for the lower rate of GST on real estate are required to purchase 80% or more of their inputs/input services from GST registered individuals/businesses. If less than 80% of inputs/input services are purchased from registered persons, tax will be payable at 18% using reverse charge mechanism (RCM). In case of cement being purchased from unregistered person, 28% tax will be payable based on RCM system.

The 33rd Council Meeting held on 24th February 2019 has introduced much anticipated rate cuts for the residential real estate sector. The lower GST rates introduced by the Council will come into effect on the 1st of April 2019.

New GST Rates on Real Estate Transactions

The new GST rates on real estate transactions will be as follows:

• GST will be levied at the rate of 5% without ITC benefit (earlier 12% with ITC benefit) in case of residential properties that are not part of the affordable housing segment.
• GST will be levied at the rate of 1% without ITC benefit (earlier 8% with ITC benefit) in case of residential properties that are part of the affordable housing segment.  

It is notable that these new rates will only apply to under-construction residential properties. This is because under existing GST rules, sale of ready to move in properties do not qualify as the supply of a good or service, hence GST does not apply. The new rates will be effective from 1st of April on residential property sales as GST on commercial properties has not been discussed by the GST council.     

Definition of Affordable Housing Segment provided by GST Council

The announcement also provided clarity regarding what which residential properties qualified as affordable housing. As per the definition provided by the GST Council, the following are the key features of a residential property that qualifies for the lower GST rate on affordable housing transactions:

• Maximum value of residential property under affordable housing is Rs. 45 lakhs.
• Maximum carpet area of affordable housing property in metropolitan area is 60 square meters.
• Maximum carpet area of affordable housing property in non-metropolitan city/town is 90 square meters.
• Metropolitan areas in India are limited to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR (limited to Delhi, Greater Noida, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad), Chennai, Mumbai (including all areas in Mumbai Metropolitan Region) and Kolkata. All other cities and town are considered to be non-metropolitan.  

Intermediate Tax Exemption Criteria Introduced

At the meeting, the council also introduced grounds for intermediate tax exemption on real estate in specific cases. Under existing rules, intermediate tax is payable on development rights such as long term lease (premium), JDA (Joint Development Agreement) and TDR (Transfer of Development Rights). Going forward, exemption from this intermediate tax will be available if GST is payable on these residential properties.        

The 32^nd GST Council meeting introduced a number of measures that are designed to benefit small and medium businesses. The following are the major recommendations made by the GST council at its 32^nd meeting concluded on 10^th January 2019:

• The exemption for GST registration by businesses has been increased to Rs. 40 lakhs (annual turnover) which is double the earlier limit of Rs. 20 lakhs. This new exemption limit is lower for hill states and north eastern states whose exemption limit has been increased to Rs. 20 lakhs from the earlier limit of Rs. 10 lakhs.
• This meeting also introduced a composition scheme for businesses providing services/mixed services. The limit for such businesses has been fixed at Rs. 50 lakhs with a tax rate of 6%.
• Further benefits were also announced for GST composition tax registered businesses with annual turnover limit for such businesses being increased to Rs. 1.5 crore from the earlier Rs. 1 crore annual turnover limit for the GST composition scheme.
• Additionally, to decrease the compliance burden, going forward, composition registered businesses will be required to file returns only once a year while tax payments will be quarterly based on a simple declaration.
• The GST council also announced GST updates allowing the Kerala state government to introduce a calamity cess of 1% on interstate supply of goods/services for a period of 2 years in order to aid the state’s rehabilitation after devastating floods.

While the 32^nd GST Council Meeting focused on providing a more conducive business environment to small and medium businesses, it did not introduce GST updates regarding rates for any products/services.

The 31^st GST council meeting on 22^nd December has reduced GST rates on various goods and services. The new rates applicable through GST Updates are expected to come into effect from 1st January 2018 and the Goods and Services Tax Council did not announce GST rate hikes for any goods/services during the last GST council meeting in 2018.

The following goods were moved from the 28% to the 18% GST slab rate:

•         CCTV Video recorders/digital cameras
•         Televisions/Monitors up to 32 inches
•         Power banks powered by Lithium-ion batteries
•         Sports goods, games consoles and related items with HS code 9504
•         All items with HS code 8483 including gear boxes, transmission cranks and pulleys
•         Used or retreaded pneumatic rubber tires

The following goods will attract 5% GST going forward instead of the current 28%:

•         Accessories/parts for carriages designed for differently-abled individuals

The following goods were moved from the 18% GST slab to the 12% rate:

•         Debagged/roughly squared cork
•         Items manufactured from natural cork
•         Agglomerated cork

Going forwards 5% GST will be applicable to the following item instead of the current 18%:

•         Marble rubble

The following items will now attract 5% GST instead of 12% GST rate:

•         Fly-ash blocks
•         Walking sticks
•         Natural cork

The GST rate is now Zero for the following products (instead of 12% GST rate applicable earlier):

•         Music Books

Zero GST is also applicable through GST Updates to the following products instead of earlier 5% GST rate:

•         Unit container-packed frozen branded vegetables (uncooked/steamed)
•         Vegetables preserved using various techniques including brine and other preservatives that are unsuitable for immediate human consumption.

GST Rate reduction has also been proposed for the following services:

•         New GST rate of 18% instead of 28% for movie tickets over Rs. 100
•         New GST rate of 12% instead of 18% for movie tickets less than Rs. 100
•         GST exemption is now applicable to Basic Savings Bank Account (BSBD) account opened under the PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana).
•         Air travel for purpose of pilgrimage via chartered/non-scheduled flights will now attract same rate of GST (i.e. 5% with income tax credit of input services) as scheduled domestic flights.