48th GST Council Meeting

The 48th GST council meeting took place on 17 December 2022 under the chairmanship of Finance Minister of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, via video conferencing. The Council made various recommendations relating to changes in GST tax rates, measures for facilitating trade, and streamlining GST compliance. This article highlights essential recommendations provided at the 48th GST council meeting.

Key Highlights of 48th GST Council Meeting-

Tax on husks of pulses has been reduced from 5% to nil.
The GST rate on Ethyl alcohol is now to 5% instead of 18%.
No new taxes have been introduced.
The GST Council has stated that the no-claim bonus given by insurance companies will not be taxed.
The Council will discuss the GST Appellate Tribunal issue in its next meeting.
The GST Council could not take up the taxation of tobacco, gutkha and online gaming due to a lack of time.

Changes in GST Rates-

Sr. No	Description	From	To
Goods
1.	Husk of pulses including chilka and concentrates including chuni/churi, khanda	5%	Nil
2.	Ethyl alcohol supplied to refineries for blending with motor spirit (petrol)	18%	5%

Furthermore, it was decided to include Mentha arvensis supply in the reverse charging system, as has been decided for Mentha Oil.

Clarifications on GST Rate -

Rab (Rab-Salawat) is classifiable under CTH 1702 and attracts GST at 18%.
Fryums which are manufactured using the process of extrusion are covered explicitly under CTH 19059030 and attract GST at 18%.
The high rate of compensation cess of 22% is applicable to motor vehicles fulfilling the given conditions; It's common name is SUV, has an engine capacity is greater than 1500 cc, length greater than 4000 mm and minimum ground clearance of 170 mm.
The rate of 5% will apply to goods imported for petroleum operations that come into the lower rate category of 5%, as part of Schedule I of Notification No. 1/2017-CTR and the rate of 12% will apply only when the general rate is higher than 12%.
The interim period has been regularised by the Council beginning on the date of the Circular's issuance (3.08.2022) concerning GST rate on "husk of pulses including chilka and concentrates including chuni/churi, khanda' on" a "as is basis," due to genuine concerns.
No GST is due if a residential property is rented to a registered person for their own personal use as their primary residence and on their own account, rather than for their business.
The incentive payments made to banks by the Central Government as part of the programme to promote RuPay Debit Cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions are akin to a subsidy and are exempt from taxation.

Measures for Facilitation of trade-

The GST Council has doubled the threshold for filing prosecution from Rs.1 crore to Rs.2 crore.
The GST Council reduced the compounding percentage from the current 50% to 150% of the tax amount to 25% to 100%.
Decriminalization of the following offences shall take place:

"obstructing or impeding any officer in the performance of his duties"; "deliberately tampering with material evidence"; "failure to supply the information".

Refund to Unregistered Persons-

The Council suggested amending the CGST Rules, 2017 and issuing a circular to specify the process for unregistered buyers to submit a refund application in cases where the agreement for the supply of services, such as the construction of a house, is cancelled and the duration for issuing a credit note by the supplier is over.

E-Com Portals can supply goods from Unregistered Suppliers-

The GST Council has recommended that the previously approved plan to allow composition taxpayers and unregistered suppliers to make intra-state sales through E-Com Portals be implemented starting 1st October 2023.

Measures for streamlining compliances in GST-

The Council has suggested that CGST Rules 8 and 9, 2017 be amended to test biometric-based Aadhaar authentication and risk-based physical registration applicant verification in the state of Gujarat to help combat false registrations.
To prevent a person's PAN from being misused, a PAN-linked mobile number and email address must be authenticated and recorded in FORM GST REG-01 and an OTP-based verification must also be carried out.
To limit the amount of time in which returns/statements may be filed to a maximum of three years following the return/statement's due date, sections 37, 39, 44, and 52 of the CGST Act, 2017 shall be amended.
To allow the supplier to report information about supplies made through ECOs and the ECO to report information about supplies made, the FORM GSTR-1 shall be amended.
To allow the taxpayer to pay the differential liability or provide an explanation for the difference between the liability reported by the taxpayer in Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B, Rule 88C and FORM GST DRC-01B must be added to the CGST Rules, 2017. Moreover, to restrict the filing of Form GSTR-1 for a certain tax period if the taxpayer still needs to deposit the amount specified, clause (d) of rule 59 of the CGST Rules, 2017 shall be added.
To reduce confusion and legal battles regarding the taxation of OIDAR Services, the definitions of "non-taxable online recipient" under section 2(16) of the IGST Act, 2017 and "Online Information and Database Access or Retrieval Services (OIDAR)" under section 2(17) of the same act have been amended.

The official notification for the 48th GST Council Meeting can be accessed through the link provided below: [pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/press-release-48th-gstc-17.12.2022-1.pdf" title="press release 48th gstc 17.12.2022"]