48th GST Council meetingThis meeting, to be held next week on December 17, is going to be important in the sense that it could be the last meeting before the Union Budget 2023. GST levy on online gaming and setting up of an appellate tribunal, apart from changes in the rate of tax on various items.
The setting up of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) will ensure that businesses can approach the tribunal instead of the High Court for many cases.
The Council, which is headed by the Union Finance Minister and includes representatives from all states and union territories, is going to hold its 48th meeting next week (December 17) through videoconferencing.
Abhishek Jain, partner (indirect taxes) at KPMG, said the two reports of the GoM – GST levy on online gaming and setting up of an appellate tribunal – are expected to be major discussion points in the upcoming GST Council meeting.
“Furthermore, since this meeting may be the last meeting before the Union Budget 2023, the council may also discuss changes in some tax rates and reforms in the system for ease of compliance. Besides, the topic of GST rate rationalization is also likely to figure in the discussions,” Jain said.
The GST Council in its last 47th meeting on June 28 and 29 had decided to accept the Interim Report of the Group of Ministers on Reforms in Duty Reversal and Rebate. Pre-packaged and pre-labelled retail packs including curd, lassi and buttermilk were also brought under GST.
However, the Council granted more time to the GoM on GST levy on casino, online gaming and horse racing to study and submit the report. It also did not take a decision on the matter related to GST on cryptocurrencies in the last meeting in June.
An expert said these matters are likely to be discussed in the upcoming meeting apart from the rate rationalization report of the GoM, which will tweak tax rates in the indirect tax regime.
The meeting is expected to ratify the formation of GSTAT (Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal), which will ensure that businesses can approach the tribunal instead of the high court for many cases, said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India Huh. It is also necessary to discuss the report of the GOM, which was constituted to provide recommendations on the same, to address the issues of classification and valuation faced by online gaming players.”
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on online gaming, headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, recently held its final meeting on the issue and is understood to have recommended a GST levy of 28 per cent on online gaming, even though it Be it a game of skill or chance.
The Union Budget 2023-24 is to be presented in Parliament on February 1, 2023.
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