The Almighty Property Tax Council, on May 28, decided to exempt GST Covid-related entities submitted on a pay basis through government donations or the recommendation of state officials to any aid agency, until August 31.
These include medical oxygen, concentrators, diagnostic marking kit kits and COVID-19 vaccines, etc. The center had already released items through a free donation channel from IGST. That release was postponed to August 31 again.
Speaking at a media briefing, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said a team of ministers would be formed soon to discuss other Covid-related reductions.
“The ministerial team will submit its proposal on June 8 for further reductions, if necessary,” Sitharaman said, adding that the party would be formed tomorrow.
Compensation is always a point of adherence
The Minister of Finance also said that the center would borrow Rs 1.58 lakh from this money, more than last year, under the compensation window, and would transfer that money to the provinces.
However, a source in one of the provinces said the money or the issue of compensation loans had not been removed by the GST Council. Indeed, the issue of compensation was not forthcoming in the subsequent press release.
“The Rs. 1.58 trillion repayment loan announced after the GST Council meeting, is in line with our estimate of the gap between GST compensation requirements and the elimination of Rs. 1.65 trillion in FY2022,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist and ICRA Ltd.
Also read : Motivation, rapid hospitality, MSME, real location and construction are possible
“If fragments of these loans start flowing in the provinces soon, it will reduce the amount of money expected by the provinces in the next two months. GST on-loan debt data confirms that the onset of local locks has had a negative impact on economic activity since April 2021,” Nayar said.
Sitharaman has confirmed that a special session will soon be held to discuss the end of compensation before July 2022.
He said the council had also taken up the issue of price changes in various areas, but decided to postpone the matter at subsequent meetings. “Like last year, we did not see a time when it was time to fix the work structure,” Sitharaman said.
Many provinces have reportedly proposed Sitharaman, who leads the Council, to cut down the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for oxygen grade, oxygen concentrators, pulse oximeters and COVID test kits.
Ahead of the meeting, the opposition Congress party called on the government to reduce the tax on key items linked to COVID-19 to zero.
Also read : RBI Annual Report: Allocation of Rs 2,000 Distributed Notes falls to FY21
“Putting GST on essential health products such as oxygen, respirators, drugs and medicines during the epidemic is cruel and unsympathetic. At today’s GST Council meeting, the government should remove GST from all life-saving drugs and equipment used to fight Covid,” Secretary-General Congress ‘UP’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted.
Several state governments, including Punjab, West Bengal and Odisha had previously written to the center seeking GST’s exemption for COVID-19-related drugs and medical equipment.
Other steps
Sitharaman referred to the government’s move to address issues involving late exemptions, saying it significantly reduced the burden of compliance with firms. A waiver scheme has been recommended to reduce late payments if delays in the provision of FORM GSTR-3B 3B during tax periods from July, 2017 to April, 2021. Also, late payments are limited to FORM GSTR-1, GSTR-4 and GSTR. -7.
“About 89% of GST taxpayers are small taxpayers. They can now file their pending forms by obtaining the benefits of this reduced exemption payment scheme,” said the Minister of Finance.
latest news : Sun Pharmaceutical Q4 net profit brings more than double Rs 894.15 crore
The Council also allowed a large number of taxpayers’ rest. These include extending the last day to install GSTR-1 / IFF in May 2021 by 15 days, extending the last day to install GSTR-4 for FY 2020-21 to 31.07.2021 and extending the date of installation of ITC- 04 QE March 2021 to 30.06.2021, among others.
“While compliance planning is likely to benefit about 89 percent of taxpayers, much more was expected from the GST Council, as it met more than 6 months later,” he said. Saket Patawari, Executive Director – Indirect Taxes, Nexdigm
“While all the recommendations may provide taxpayers with temporary assistance, other priorities such as job redress, ITC vaccination rights, and extension of GST refund dates are still missing,” Patawari said.
Also read : Tamil musician sells NFT signal for Rs 1.5 crore to Beeple fame Metakovan
