Government has made many changes in it’s 23rd GST Council meeting which was held at Guwahati on 10th November 2017.
Following are some key points of GST council 23rd meeting done by Ministry of Finance. Important features of these press releases are……
- Tax rates Changes for goods:-
- As of now 50 items are remaining in 28% slab out 0f 228. Only luxury goods are now in the highest tax bracket and items of daily use are shifted to 18 per cent.
- Restaurants are cheaper now which will be levied theGST at 5 per cent, without input tax credit (ITC) benefits.
- The five-star restaurants within starred-hotels with room rent above 7,500 will attract 18 per cent and can still avail input tax credit(ITC) benefits. Outdoor catering will attract 18 per cent GST with input tax credit benefits.
- The panel also decided to move 13 items from the 18% tax slab to 12%, another six from 18% to 5% and eight items from 12% to the 5% tax slab. Six other items have been moved from the 5% slab to nil.
- Items on which GST was cut from 28 % to 18 %
- Wire, cables, insulated conductors, electrical insulators, electrical plugs, switches, sockets, fuses, relays, electrical connectors, Electrical boards, panels, consoles, cabinets etc for electric control or distribution
- Particle/fibre boards and ply wood. Article of wood, wooden frame, paving block
Furniture, mattress, bedding and similar furnishing, Trunk, suitcase, vanity cases, brief cases, travelling bags and other hand bags, cases
- Detergents, washing and cleaning preparations Liquid or cream for washing the skin, Shampoos, Hair cream, Hair dyes (natural, herbal or synthetic) and similar other goods; henna powder or paste, not mixed with any other ingredient
- Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, room deodoriser, Perfumes and toilet waters, Beauty or make-up preparations
- Fans, pumps, compressors, Lamp and light fitting, Primary cell and primary batteriesSanitary ware and parts thereof of all kind, Articles of plastic, floor covering, baths, shower, sinks, washbasins, seats, sanitary ware of plastic
- Slabs of marbles and granite, Goods of marble and granite such as tiles, Ceramic tiles of all kinds, Miscellaneous articles such as vacuum flasks, lighters
- Wrist watches, clocks, watch movement, watch cases, straps, parts, Article of apparel & clothing accessories of leather, guts, furskin, artificial fur and, other articles such as saddlery and harness for any animal
- Articles of cutlery, stoves, cookers and similar non electric domestic appliances, Razor and razor blades
- Multi-functional printers, cartridges, Office or desk equipment, Door, windows and, frames of aluminium
- Articles of plaster such as board, sheet
- Articles of cement or concrete or stone and artificial stone
- Articles of asphalt or slate
- Articles of mica
- Ceramic flooring blocks, pipes, conduit, pipe fitting, Wall paper and wall covering
- Glass of all kinds and articles thereof such as mirror, safety glass, sheets, glassware
- Electrical, electronic weighing machinery
- Fire extinguishers and fire extinguishing charge
- Fork lifts, lifting and handling equipment
- Bull dozers, excavators, loaders, road rollers
- Earth moving and levelling machinery, Escalators
- Cooling towers, pressure vessels, reactors
- Crankshaft for sewing machine, tailor’s dummies, bearing housings, gears and gearing, ball or roller screws, gaskets
- Electrical apparatus for radio and television broadcasting
- Sound recording or reproducing apparatus
- Signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for transports
- Physical exercise equipment, festival and carnival equipment, swings, shooting galleries, roundabouts, gymnastic and athletic equipment
- All musical instruments and their parts
- Artificial flowers, foliage and artificial fruits
- Explosive, anti-knocking preparation, fireworks, Cocoa butter, fat, oil powder
- Extract, essence ad concentrates of coffee, miscellaneous food preparations, Chocolates, Chewing gum / bubble gum
- Malt extract and food preparations of flour, meal, starch or malt extract, Waffles and wafers coated with chocolate or containing chocolate
- Rubber tubes and miscellaneous articles of rubber
- Goggles, binoculars, telescope
- Cinematographic cameras and projectors, image projector
- Microscope, specified laboratory equipment, specified scientific equipment such as for, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, geology
- Solvent, thinners, hydraulic fluids, anti-freezing preparation
- Items on which GST was cut from 28% to 12%
- Wet grinders consisting of stone as grinder
- Tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles
- Items on which GST was cut from 18 % 12 %
- Condensed milk
- Refined sugar and sugar cubes
- Pasta
- Curry paste, mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed seasoning
- Diabetic food
- Medicinal grade oxygen
- Printing ink
- Hand bags and shopping bags of jute and cotton
- Hats (knitted or crocheted)
- Parts of specified agricultural, horticultural, forestry, harvesting or threshing machinery
- Specified parts of sewing machine
- Spectacles frames
- Furniture wholly made of bamboo or cane
- Items on which GST was cut from 18 % to 5 %
- Puffed rice chikki, peanut chikki, sesame chikki, revdi, tilrevdi, khaza, kazuali, groundnut, sweets gatta, kuliya
- Flour of potatoes put up in unit container bearing a brand name
- Chutney powder
- Fly ash
- Sulphur recovered in refining of crude
- Fly ash aggregate with 90% or more fly ash content
- Items on which GST was cut from 12 % to 5 %
- Desiccated coconut
- Narrow woven fabric including cotton [with no refund of unutilised input tax credit]
- Idli, dosa batter
- Finished leather, chamois and composition leather
- Coir cordage and ropes, jute twine, coir products
- Fishing net and fishing hooks
- Worn clothing
- Fly ash brick
- Items on which GST was cut from 5% to nil
- Guar meal
- Hop cone (other than grounded, powdered or in pellet form)
- Certain dried vegetables such as sweet potatoes, maniac
- Unworked coconut shell
- Fish frozen or dried (not put up in unit container bearing a brand name)
- Khandsari sugar
GST rates on aircraft engines was cut from 28 per cent/18 per cent to 5 per cent, aircraft tyres from 28 per cent to 5 per cent and aircraft seats from 28 per cent to 5 per cent.
Following facilitative measures for taxpayers
Return Filing
- The return filing process is to be further simplified in the following manner
- All taxpayers would file return in FORM GSTR-3B along with payment of tax by 20th of the succeeding month till March, 2018.
- For filing of details in FORM GSTR-1 till March 2018, taxpayers would be divided into two categories.
Details of these two categories along with the last date of filing GSTR 1 are as follows
Category 1
Taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover upto Rs. 1.5 crore need to file GSTR-1 on quarterly basis as per following frequency
| Annual aggregate turnover uptoRs. 1.5 crore need to file GSTR-1quarterly basis | |
| Period | Dates |
| July 2017 – September 2017 | 31st Dec 2017 |
| October 2017 – December 2018 | 15th Feb 2018 |
| January 2018 – March 2018 | 30th April 2018 |
Category 2
Taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover more than Rs. 1.5 crore need to file GSTR-1 on monthly basis as per following frequency
| Aggregate turnover more than Rs. 1.5 crore need to file GSTR-1 on monthly basis | |
| Period | Dates |
| July 2017 –October 2017 | 31st Dec 2017 |
| November 2017 | 10th Jan 2018 |
| December 2017 | 10th Feb 2018 |
| January 2018 | 10th Mar 2018 |
| February 2018 | 10th Apr 2018 |
| March 2018 | 10th May 2018 |
- The time period for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for the months of July, 2017 to March 2018 would be worked out by a Committee of Officers. However, filing of GSTR-1 will continue for the entire period without requiring filing of GSTR-2 & GSTR-3 for the previous month / period.
- A large number of taxpayers were unable to file their return in FORM GSTR-3B within due date for the months of July, August and September, 2017. Late fee was waived in all such cases. It has been decided that where such late fee was paid, it will be re-credited to their Electronic Cash Ledger under “Tax” head instead of “Fee” head so as to enable them to use that amount for discharge of their future tax liabilities. The software changes for this would be made and thereafter this decision will be implemented.
- For subsequent months, i.e. October 2017 onwards, the amount of late fee payable by a taxpayer whose tax liability for that month was ‘NIL’will be Rs. 20/- per day (Rs. 10/- per day each under CGST & SGST Acts) instead of Rs. 200/- per day (Rs. 100/- per day each under CGST & SGST Acts).
Manual Filing
- d) A facility for manual filing of application for advance ruling is being introduced for the time being.
Further benefits for service providers
- Exports of services to Nepal and Bhutan have already been exempted from GST. It has now been decided that such exporters will also be eligible for claiming Input Tax Credit in respect of goods or services used for effecting such exempt supply of services to Nepal and Bhutan.
- In an earlier meeting of the GST Council, it was decided to exempt those service providers whose annual aggregate turnover is less than Rs. 20 lakhs (Rs. 10 lakhs in special category states except J & K) from obtaining registration even if they are making inter-State taxable supplies of services. As a further measure towards taxpayer facilitation, it has been decided to exempt such suppliers providing services through an e-commerce platform from obtaining compulsory registration provided their aggregate turnover does not exceed twenty lakh rupees. As a result, all service providers, whether supplying intra-State, inter-State or through ecommerce operator, will be exempt from obtaining GST registration, provided their aggregate turnover does not exceed Rs. 20 lakhs (Rs. 10 lakhs in special category States except J & K).
Extension of dates
- Taking cognizance of the late availability or unavailability of some forms on the common portal, it has been decided that the due dates for furnishing the following forms shall be extended as under
| FORM and Details | Original due date | Revised due date |
| GST ITC-04 for the quarter July-September, 2017 | 25.10.2017 | 31.12.2017 |
| GSTR-4 for the quarter July-September, 2017 | 18.10.2017 | 24.12.2017 |
| GSTR-5 for July, 2017 | 20.08.2017 or 7 days from the last date of registration whichever is earlier | 11.12.2017 |
| GSTR-5A for July, 2017 | 20.08.2017 | 15.12.2017 |
| GSTR-6 for July, 2017 | 13.08.2017 | 31.12.2017 |
| TRAN-1 | 30.09.2017 | 31.12.2017 (One-time option of revision also to be given till this date) |
Revised due dates for subsequent tax periods will be announced in due course
Our Views
The GST council decision to lower rates on items in the consumer, light electrical and home building sectors, would be positive for companies like Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Berger Paints., Titan Kajaria Ceramics, Somany Ceramics, Century Ply. With the easing of rates on many items we believe that the irritants in the implementation phase has been taken care of to a large extent. We also believe that further rationalization of rates is likely to come in the forthcoming meetings. The pain suffered by SME is likely to subside and things will start to look up for the segment which had been the worst affected. With this rationalization the teething problems which affected our GDP growth is likely to ebb and drive the economy northwards in the coming quarters.
an analysis by
Pradeep
Equity Analyst
Acumen Wealthcare
Bengaluru