NEW DELHI: New system for filing returns, rationalisation of tax slabs and legal changes to the structure of GST will top the agenda of the GST Council meeting scheduled on July 21, but it will skip bringing natural gas under the GST ambit.
“There will be some legal changes in the structure of GST to facilitate the taxpayers. The government has already got an in-principle approval from the council and its draft will be presented during the July 21 meeting,” a senior Finance Ministry official said without divulging further details.Apart from this, the next council meet will discuss the simplified tax return system.
The government has already hinted at launching a single page GST filing form by the end of this year. Before the launch, the GSTN will do a trial-run of the software.
Rationalisation of tax slabs also features in the GST meet agenda.
“There will be many items that will be brought under the lower tax slab. Also, the council is also proposing to reduce one-tax slabs,” the official said.
The items that are expected to be under lower tax slab is sanitary napkins, biscuits and certain handloom items. The GST Council has reduced rates on 328 items since launch.
However, sources have ruled out the proposal of bringing natural gas under the ambit of GST.
“Even when there are talks on bringing natural gas under GST, it is unlikely to happen in this meeting. The ministry is yet to do a proper assessment of its implication of the revenue, before going ahead with the move. I think people have to wait for some more time before it happens,” the official said.
The government is planning to allow zero return filers to file on a quarterly basis.
“The plan is to take such taxpayers into the quarterly cycle of filing their returns, where they can submit the return by just opting for no transaction report,” the official said.
In the first year of GST, the government earned Rs 7.41 lakh crore by way of tax since its rollout in July.
The average monthly collection was Rs 89,885 crore.
In the current fiscal, the collections in April touched a record Rs 1.03 lakh crore, followed by Rs 94,016 crore in May and Rs 95,610 crore in June.