Goods and Services Tax (GST) - Highlights

  1. Finance Minisry approved re-organisation of field formations of Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) for implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST). CBEC will be renamed as Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
  2. Cabinet approved 4 GST Bills, to step up towards implementing GST from July 1, 2017. Bills are -
    1. CentralGST - It provides for levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods / services by Central Government.
    2. iGST - It makes provisions for levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods / services by Central Government.
    3. UTGST - Similar to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) which shall be levied and collected by States/Union Territories on intra-state supply of goods / services.
    4. Compensation Bill -It provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising due to implementation of goods and services tax for 5 years as per section 18 of Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act 2016.
    5. Additionally, central government has been empowered to impose additional tax of up to 1 % on inter-state supply of goods for 2 years
  3. Max INR 10000 will be deposited on One challan, Under GST.
  4. Under Central GST (CGST) Act, tax evasion of over Rs 5 crore under GST regime will be cognizable and non-bailable offence with police having authority to make an arrest without warrant.
  5. Department of Revenue opened a new Twitter Handle @askGST_GoI to invite queries from all taxpayers on GST (Goods and Service Tax). 
  6. GST Council (headed by finance Minister Arun Jaitley)  finalised tax rates and 7 rules for GST regime.
    1. This Crucial Meet of GST Council was held in Srinagar (J & K).
    2. 7 rules for GST regime pertaining to composition, valuation, input tax credit, invoice, payment, refund and registration are approved while remaining 2 rules (pertaining to transition and return) are under purview of legal committee.
    3. Council has fixed rates of 1211 items while rates for some other items and services will be finalised in coming days.
      1. 4-slab service tax structure at rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 % has been finalised. In next GST Council meeting, tax rates on gold and other precious metals will be taken up for discussion.
      2. Out of These Items, 7 % of items fall under exempt list, hile 14 % Are in 5 % tax bracket , 17 % items are in 12 % tax bracket, 43 % items are in 18 % tax slab and 19 % of goods are in top tax bracket of 28 %.
      3. Cars will will be 28 % Tax Bracket with additional cess - 15 % on Luxury Cars, 1 % on Small Petrol Cars and 3 % on Small Diesel Cars.
      4. Bikes with engine capacity of over 350cc will see a new cess of 3 %.
      5. Tax on Coal will be reducted from 11.69 % to 5 %, helping lower the cost of power.
      6. Luxury hotels, gambling, race club betting and cinema services will attract a tax rate of 28%. Education, healthcare and non-AC rail travel will remain exempted from GST tax.
  7. Kajal Singh has been appointed as Executive Vice President (Services) in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). GSTN is a special purpose vehicle set up to provide Information Technology infrastructure for implementation of the GST.
  8. Government has set up a GST facilitation cell in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to facilitate rollout of Goods and Services Tax. The cell is headed by Economic Advisor Sudhansu Sekhar Das.
  9. Government appointed Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan as ambassador for promotion of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  10. GST Council decided to set up a five-member anti-profiteering authority to decide on levying the penalty if businesses do not pass on the benefit of price reduction to consumers under GST regime.
  11. J & K is last state to pass GST implementation in state. Telangana was first state to Pass State GST (on 9th April 2017).
  12. GST Council constituted 18 Sectoral Groups representing various sectors of economy to ensure smooth implementation of GST by timely responding to the issues and problems of the respective Sector. GST Council also reduced the GST Rates of 66 items. GST on Fertilizers has been reduced to 5%.
  13. Home Ministry will examine Structure and Operations of Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) before giving it security clearance.
    1. GSTN is IT backbone of Goods and Service Tax (GST). It is a not for profit and private limited company incorporated in 2013.
    2. Government holds 24.5% equity in GSTN. It has been set up primarily to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  14. E-commerce firm Amazon India launched new program for sellers to get insights and help related to goods and services tax - A-Z GST Guide. It provides resources in the form of tutorials, blogs, and free online training sessions.
  15. Threshold limit for exemption from levy of GST is Rs 20 lakh for the States except for the Special Category, where it is Rs 10 Lakh.
  16. Petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel have been kept out of GST. Alcohol has also been kept out of GST.
  17. Government allowed manufacturers/companies to sell their Pre GST stock until 30 September 2017. Also, if rates of commodities have gone up following imposition of GST, then companies have to display revised and previous rates on packets and publish it in at least two newspapers.
  18. Government listed 22 products or devices for physically challenged persons that will attract a concessional GST rate of 5 % only.
  19. Finance ministry stated that Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) rate of 5 % will not be applicable on supply of goods unless brand name or trade name is registered under Trade Marks Act 1999. However, supply of goods that are put up in unit container and bear a registered brand name, attracts 2.5 % CGST rate.
  20.  Government of India has setup a Central Monitoring Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary,  to monitor the impact of GST.