The 49th meeting of the GST Council is scheduled to be held on February 18, 2023 in New Delhi.
49th GST Council meeting: GST on ‘Pan Masala’, ‘Gutka’ firms; GST levy on online gaming, casinos and horse racing; And the proposal to set up appellate tribunals can be discussed
49th meeting of GST CouncilWhich is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and includes representatives from all states and union territories, will be held on February 18 in New Delhi. The issues likely to be taken up during the meeting include taxation of ‘pan masala’ and ‘gutka’ companies. Appellate Tribunaland the GST levy on online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
In a tweet on Friday, the GST Council said, “The 49th meeting of the GST Council is scheduled to be held on February 18, 2023 in New Delhi.”
The Council may discuss the report of a Group of Ministers (GoM) on setting up of Appellate Tribunals and a GoM report on taxation of ‘Pan Masala’ and ‘Gutka’ firms. A report is also expected to be taken up by another GoM headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on the GST levy on online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
These three reports of the GoM were part of the agenda for the last GST Council meeting held on December 17, 2022.
The GoM on GSTATs, Appellate Tribunals, was constituted in July under the chairmanship of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. 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.
In the last meeting, the GST Council had recommended decriminalization of certain offenses and zero GST on certain items. The three types of offenses to be recommended by the Council pertain to – obstructing or obstructing an officer in the discharge of his duties; deliberate tampering of material evidence; Failure to provide further information.
During the 48th meeting of the GST Council, the threshold tax amount limit for initiating prosecution in any criminal offense defined under the GST laws was also increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore for all offenses except fake invoicing.
It also decided to reduce tax rates on husk of pulses including chilka and concentrate to nil and on ethyl alcohol to 5 per cent.
The GST Council makes recommendations to the Center and the States on issues related to GST, such as goods and services that can be subjected to or exempt from GST, the Model GST Law, principles that govern place of supply, threshold limits, including GST rates. Floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities/disasters, and special provisions for certain states, among others.
The recommendations of the GST Council are based on a three-fourth majority of the members present and voting. The vote of the central government is counted as one-third, while the weight of the total votes of the states is two-thirds.
The Supreme Court in its judgment in May had said that the GST Council is only a recommendatory body and its recommendations are not binding on the Center or the states. The apex court said that the recommendations of the council would have “persuasive value” and both Parliament and state legislatures could equally legislate on matters relating to GST.
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