The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, at its 49th meeting on Saturday, approved the creation of a National Court Mechanism with State Courts to rectify disputes, liquidate pending compensation, sharpen pencils, etc. announced new tax rates on , rab (liquid jaggery), plug avoidance measures for tobacco products.
With respect to pending compensation payments to the state, the government has liquidated a balance of Rs 1,698.2 billion in June 2022. In addition, Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, Pudusheri, Tamil Nadu, Telangana he has cleared final permissible GST compensation for 6 states/UT. It provided revenue figures certified by the State Accountants General reaching Rs 16,524 crore.
“Any clearance or payment of money requires approval of the AG certificate. But waiting for the AG certificate does not mean that we will not release anything. 5% to 8% will be retained, provided that 5% is released to the states and AG’s certificate reaches us,” said the Finance Minister. Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference after the board meeting.
According to the official release, states including Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have pending AG certificates for 2017-2018. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said the pending compensation amount is 34,000 kroner, of which 50% has already been paid. “We are now releasing 50% (16,524 kroner in 6 states/UT). Already 50% has been released, worth Rs 1,698.2 billion. It will come from the fund and then be recovered when it is received in the compensation fund the following year,” Malhotra said.
The Council accepted the recommendations of the reports of the two Groups of Ministers (GoM). “GoM on GST Volume Based Taxation and Special Structured Schemes in Certain Sectors” and “GoM on GST Appellate Court”.
After the introduction of the GST in July 2017, the establishment of the Court of Appeals mechanism paved the way for the resolution of disputes at the national and state levels for the first time. One, slightly amended and on understanding he one or he two amendments in the language reflected in the (financial) bill,” he said, Sitharaman said, adding that the first draft of the feedback was released on Sunday. added that it will be shared with the state. A final draft will be distributed to each state.
The board, she added, authorized the chairman to take a final view and incorporate it into the finance bill, as the board does not have much time to reunite.
States are known to have expressed concerns about the initial GoM recommendations for national-level tribunals, including one judicial commissioner, one technical commissioner, and a selection committee composed entirely of Supreme Court representatives. increase. After at least a dozen states warned at council meetings that state representation in court composition was inadequate, the final decision was made by two judicial commissioners, including the senior judicial commissioner of the State High Court, and his two The technical committee changed to expand the strength of the bench. The state finance minister said the selection committee would:
“There was a great deal of resistance to the GoM’s initial recommendation. … A lot of clarifications were made, the Secretary of Revenue explained a lot of things, the Deputy CM of Haryana, who convened the GoM, also made a lot of suggestions for improvement. The concerns of many states have been addressed both in terms of the composition of the courts and the selection committees that would create such courts.Of course, it can be said that the devil is in the details.The next few days We expect a written statement within the next few days,” said Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Paranivel Thiagarajan.
The Revenue Secretary said there will be one court with a primary court, and states will have an equal number of courts. “They will be named as state benches. For a given state bench, all judicial and technical members will be from that state,” he said.
For the taxation of pan masala, gucca and other tobacco products, the Board approved that factories would not be taxed based on their manufacturing capacity and compliance, and that follow-up action would be taken to plug leaks. Compensation tax is levied on such goods as a tax-based levy rather than an ad valorem tax.
Pencil sharpeners from 18% to 12%, rab (liquid jaggery) from 18% to 5% if sold prepackaged and labeled, and zero if sold loose. The Council also exempted educational institutions, central and state boards of education, from conducting entrance examinations through any authority, including the National Examinations Office. The Board also approved a pardon system for deemed conditional withdrawals of assessment orders in past cases and rationalization of annual return late fees.