GST Council okays rules, rates to be set in May
The prospects of a July 1 rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) brightened further on Friday. The thirteenth meeting of the GST Council signed off on the rules that will form the basis of the implementation of the singular tax reform. This leaves the council with only the time-consuming work of fitting various goods and services into tax slabs.
Earlier this week, the Lok Sabha cleared the last batch of supporting legislation crucial for the implementation of GST. The Rajya Sabha is expected to take up these bills — tabled as money bills — next week.
The council finalised five sets of rules relating to registration, refunds, returns, payment and invoice debit and credit. It also gave its tentative nod to four more sets of rules dealing with input tax credit, valuation, transitional provisions, and the composition scheme. These set of rules will be finalised after receiving industry feedback.
“The next meeting will be held on May 18-19 in Srinagar where besides these rules which will be given final approval, the rate structure in relation to individual commodities will be taken up for consideration. In the meanwhile, the officers’ committee will start working on the fitment of those rates,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said at a press conference.
The GST Council has finalised four rate slabs — 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, besides deciding to impose a cess on certain demerit items and sin goods like tobacco, cola, luxury cars and pan masala.