HYDERABAD: The most recent meeting of the GST Council held here on Saturday saw the Council revise rates downwards for 30 odd commodities after reviewing rates for 65 items on the GST list. It also approved wholesale extensions in deadlines for filing of GST returns as continued glitches on the GSTN portal have resulted in a heavy stream of complaints, and in some cases, protests.
While heavily used household items like idli dosa batter, dried tamarind, plastic rain coats and agarbathis have seen rates revised downwards, the Council also reduced rates for khadi products sold by the state-owned khadi producer KVIC.
Also on the list of those getting some relief are handicraft makers, who will now not have to pay GST if they sell to buyers outside their state, provided their turnover is below Rs 20 lakh. “Presently, any person making inter-state taxable supplies is not eligible for threshold exemption of Rs 20 lacs (Rs 10 lacs in special category states except J & K) and is liable for registration. It has been decided to allow an exemption from registration to persons making inter-State taxable supplies of handicraft goods upto aggregate turnover of Rs 20 lacs as long as the person has a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the goods move under the cover of an e-way bill, irrespective of the value of the consignment,” said the finance ministry in a statement.
Most notable among the revisions however, is the hike in cess brought in for large vehicles. Despite continued protests from high-end carmakers, the Council has decided to increase the GST compensation cess on mid-sized, large and SUV models by 2 per cent, 5 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. However, the Council has decided to keep rates for small petrol and diesel cars at the same rate as initially announced.
“The tax rates on small cars, 13 seaters, hybrid vehicles has not been changed. But, cess on mid segment, large cars and sports car has been increased considering that a consumer who is ready to buy a big car will not feel pinch of more cess. Even after the increased cess, the tax rates on cars will be less than the pre-GST era,” explained finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The change in deadlines for filing returns, for its part, has been prompted by many technical problems on the GSTN portal. “Due to technical glitches, there have been difficulties in filing returns. These are challenges which are transitory. But, to provide a liberal enough period for assesses to file their returns, we have decided a new schedule itself,” said Jaitley.
As per the revised schedule, for companies with turnover of over Rs 100 crore, the last date for filing GSTR-1 will be October 3. For the rest, it will be October 10. Also, filing of GSTR-2 for July will have to be done by October 31, and GSTR-3 by November 10. Dates for filing of GSTR 1, 2, 3 returns for the month of August will be informed later. Earlier this week, the date of final return filing for GSTR-1 was first extended to September 10 in view of rush in invoice uploading, instead of September 5 earlier.
