GST Council meeting to be held today

The GST Council will meet in New Delhi today. This will be the 32nd meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council. The meeting is likely to discuss the recommendations of the two ministerial panels among other issues. The ministerial panel under minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla has deliberated on the exemption threshold for MSME sector. 

Currently, businesses with turnover of up to 20 lakh rupees are exempt from the GST. Another ministerial panel under Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi has approved levy of 1 percent 'calamity cess' by Kerala for a period of two years to fund rehabilitation work in the state hit by floods. The goods and services, which will attract the 1 percent cess, will be decided by



Kerala.

The GST Council is also likely to discuss lowering GST on under-construction flats and houses to 5 per cent. Currently, GST is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale. It is also likely to consider a composition scheme for small suppliers as well as GST rates on lottery. In its previous meeting in December, it had rationalised the 28 per cent tax slab and reduced rates on 23 goods and services. The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is the highest decision making body of the new indirect tax system that came into effect from the first of July, 2017.