Last updated: January 3rd, 2022 5:41 PM

Highlights of 46th GST Council Meeting

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) council held its 46th GST council meeting on 31st December 2021, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. The GST Council has recommended deferring the decision to change the rates in textiles recommended in the 45th GST Council meeting. Consequently, the existing rates in the textile sector would continue beyond 1st January 2022. The Council decided to keep the GST hike on textiles from 5% to 12% on hold.

Key Highlights of 46th GST Council Meeting

The key decisions taken at the 46th GST Council Meeting is given here: The 46th GST Council meeting was called under emergency provisions. Finance Minister informed that It was a very brief meeting with the GST hike on textiles. The meeting was triggered by a letter that written to the Finance Minister by the finance minister of Gujarat, requesting for reconsideration of the September 2021 decision taken in the Council.

• The GST Council has decided to retain the status quo on GST rate on textile to 5% and not raise it to 12%
• The FM clarified that the next GST Council meeting will be held at the end of February 2022 or early March 2022.

The Union Finance Minister (FM), during the press meet, stated that the 46th GST Council meeting was called under the emergency provisions with just two days' notice. This meeting holds significance as it is taking place ahead of the Union Budget which is presented on the first day of February by the Finance Minister in Parliament.

Inverted duty scheme on footwear and textiles

At the 45^th GST Council meeting in Lucknow on September 17, the Council had decided to rectify the inverted duty structure for footwear and textiles. Subsequently, the rate for footwear and textiles for any value was raised to 12 percent, effective from January 1, 2022. Earlier the GST rate was 5 percent for sale value up to Rs 1,000 per piece in the case of apparel and per pair in the case of footwear. For more details on Input Tax Credit Refund – Inverted Tax Structure, click here

GST Rate for Textiles

The GST Council Meeting has decided to retain the status quo on the rate at which Textiles are taxed. GST Rate will remain at 5% for now.

GST Rate for Footwear

Finance Minister clarified that the GST hike on footwear was not on the 46^th Council’s agenda, and no discussion happened in this regard. Hence, the new GST rate of 12% will apply to footwear from 1st January 2022. The official Notification of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC)  is attached here for reference: