The following recommendations have been made in the 31st GST Council Meeting on the 22nd of December, 2018.
Single Cash Ledger: There would be a single cash ledger for each tax head. The modalities for implementation would be finalised in consultation with GSTN and the Accounting authorities. For Example: The three tax ledgers i.e. Credit, Liability and Cash will be merged into one ledger for each tax head such as IGST, SGST/UTGST CGST and Cess.
Late Fee Waiver: for all the GST returns yet to be filed as on 22nd December 2018 up to 31st March 2019, for the months July 2017 up to September 2018
ITC for 2017-18: Time to claim the Input tax credit for FY 2017-18 allowed up due date of filing GSTR-3B of March 2019, subject to conditions.
New Return Filing System: To be started on a trial basis from April 1, 2019, and will be to be implemented by July 1, 2019
GSTR-9 & 9C Due Date Extended: The due date for furnishing the annual returns in FORM GSTR-9, FORM GSTR-9A and reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C for the Financial Year 2017 – 2018 shall be further extended till 30.06.2019.
Changes in Annual Return: The following clarificatory changes, inter-alia, shall be carried out in the formats/instructions according to which the annual return / reconciliation statement is to be submitted by the taxpayers:
- Amendment of headings in the forms to specify that the return in FORM GSTR-9 & FORM GSTR-9A would be in respect of supplies etc. ‘made during the year’ and not ‘as declared in returns filed during the year
- All returns in FORM GSTR-1 & FORM GSTR-3B have to be filed before filing of FORM GSTR-9 & FORM GSTR-9C
- All returns in FORM GSTR-4 have to be filed before filing of FORM GSTR-9A
- HSN code may be declared only for those inward supplies whose value independently accounts for 10% or more of the total value of inward supplies
- Additional payments, if any, required to be paid can be done through FORM GST DRC-03 only in cash
- ITC cannot be availed through FORM GSTR-9 &FORM GSTR-9C
- All invoices pertaining to previous FY (irrespective of month in which such invoice is reported in FORM GSTR-1) would be auto-populated in Table 8A of FORM GSTR-9;
- Value of “non-GST supply” shall also include the value of “no supply” and may be reported in Table 5D, 5E and 5F of FORM GSTR-9
- Verification by taxpayer who is uploading reconciliation statement would be included in FORM GSTR-9C
GSTR-8 Due Date Extended: The due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-8 by e-commerce operators for the months of October, November and December, 2018 shall be extended till 31.01.2019.
ITC-04 Due Date Extended: The due date for submitting FORM GST ITC-04 for the period July 2017 to December 2018 shall be extended till 31.03.2019.
Online Refund Filing: All the supporting documents/invoices in relation to a claim for refund in FORM GST RFD-01 shall be uploaded electronically on the common portal at the time of filing of the refund application itself, thereby obviating the need for a taxpayer to physically visit a tax office for submission of a refund application. GSTN will enable this functionality on the common portal shortly.
RFD-01A for Other Refunds: The following types of refunds shall also be made available through FORM GST RFD-01A:
- Refund on account of Assessment/Provisional Assessment/Appeal/Any Other Order
- Tax paid on an intra-State supply which is subsequently held to be inter-State supply and vice-versa
- Excess payment of Tax
- Any other refund
Refund Clarifications: Clarifications shall be issued on certain refund related matters like refund of ITC accumulated on account of inverted duty structure, disbursal of refunds within the stipulated time, time allowed for availment of ITC on invoices, refund of accumulated ITC of compensation cess etc.
E-Way Bill Restriction for Non Filers: Taxpayers who have not filed the returns for two consecutive tax periods shall be restricted from generating e-way bills. This provision shall be made effective once GSTN/NIC make available the required functionality
GST Migration Completion: One more window for completion of migration process is being allowed. The due date for the taxpayers who did not file the complete FORM GST REG-26 but received only a Provisional ID (PID) till 31.12.2017 for furnishing the requisite details to the jurisdictional nodal officer shall be extended till 31.01.2019. Also, the due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-1 for the period July, 2017 to February, 2019/quarters July, 2017 to December, 2018 by such taxpayers shall be extended till 31.03.2019.
Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling: Creation of a Centralized Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) to deal with cases of conflicting decisions by two or more State Appellate Advance Ruling Authorities on the same issue.
Interest Computation: Amendment of section 50 of the CGST Act to provide that interest should be charged only on the net tax liability of the taxpayer, after taking into account the admissible input tax credit, i.e. interest would be leviable only on the amount payable through the electronic cash ledger.
Composition Scheme for Service Providers: The council unanimously approved the scheme for small scale service providers. The rates and threshold limit for this scheme shall be decided in forthcoming meetings.
Rate Changes:
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List
of Rate Changes at 31st GST Council Meeting
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S.No.
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List
of Goods/Services
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Change
in Tax Rate
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1
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Vegetables, (uncooked or cooked by
steaming or boiling in water), frozen, branded and put in a unit container
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5%
to Nil
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2
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Vegetable provisionally preserved
(for example by sulphur dioxide gas, in brine, in sulphur water or in other
preservative solutions), but unsuitable in that state for immediate
consumption
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3
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Music Books
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12%
to Nil
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4
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Natural Cork
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12%
to 5%
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5
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Fly-Ash Blocks
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6
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Walking Sticks
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7
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Marble Rubble
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18%
to 5%
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8
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Cork roughly squared or debagged
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18%
to 12%
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9
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Articles of natural cork
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10
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Agglomerated cork
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11
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Movie Tickets < or = INR 100
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12
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Premium on Third Party Insurance on
vehicles
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13
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Parts and accessories for the
carriages for disabled persons
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28%
to 5%
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14
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Pulleys, transmission shafts and
cranks, gear boxes etc., falling under HS Code
8483 |
28%
to 18%
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15
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Monitors and TVs of upto screen size
of 32 inches
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16
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Re-treaded or used pneumatic tyres of
rubber
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17
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Power banks of lithium ion batteries.
Lithium ion batteries are already at 18%. This will bring parity in GST rate
of power bank and lithium ion battery
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18
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Digital cameras and video camera recorders
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19
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Video game consoles and other games
and sports requisites falling under HS code 9504.
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20
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Movie Tickets > INR 100
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Exemptions
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Services supplied by banks to basic
Savings Account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana (PMJDY) shall be exempted.
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Note: Air travel of pilgrims by
non-scheduled/charter operations, for religious pilgrimage facilitated by the
Government of India under bilateral arrangements shall attract the same rate
of GST as applicable to similar flights in Economy class (i.e. 5% with ITC of
input services)
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Note: The requisite Notifications/Circulars for implementing the above recommendations of the GST Council shall be issued shortly.
Please also refer to the following link for rate changes: http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1557065
The rate changes are applicable from 1st January, 2019.
Upcoming:
The GST Council may consider reducing of GST rate on under construction residential properties to 5%.
