Latest Amendments Recommended By GST Council

Recommendations by the council from council meeting held on 22.12.2018

GST Council at its 31 st meeting held on 22 nd December 2018, has brought some important recommendations under GST. The main highlights of the meeting are narrated as under.

• Proposal for change in rate of certain items.
• Proposal for change in date of GST Returns and Audit under the GST Act.

 

1. Important Changes in RATES of items falling under the regime of GST to be made w.e.f. 01/01/2019

Name of Items	HSN Code	Current Rate	Proposed Rate
Monitors and TVs of upto screen size of 32 inches	8528	28%	18%
Power banks of lithium ion batteries	8507	28%	18%
Digital cameras and video camera recorders	8525	28%	18%
Video game consoles and other games and sports requisites	9504	28%	18%
Musical  Books	4904	12% & 5%	Nil.
Frozen Vegetables, branded and put in a unit container	0710	12% & 5%	Nil.
Vegetable provisionally preserved	0711	12% & 5%	Nil.
Cinema Tickets Above 100 Rs		28%	18%
Cinema tickets up to Rs. 100		18%	12%
Services supplied by banks to Basic Saving Bank Deposit (BSBD) account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).		18%	Nil.

 

2. Proposal for change in due dates of GST Returns and Audit under the GST Act.

Name of Return	Type of Form	Old Date	Proposed due date
Annual Returns	GSTR 9 & 9A	31st March, 2019	30th June,2019
Gst Audit	GSTR 9C	31st March, 2019	30th June,2019
Availment of ITC for invoice issued by the supplier during FY 2017-18.	GSTR-3B	25th October 2018	31st March 2019
Completion of Migration process.	GST REG-26	31st August 2018	31st January 2019
GSTR-1 for the period July 2017 to February 2018/ quarters July 2017 to December 2018 for taxpayers migrating in accordance with the recommendation made by GST council in this regard in its 31st meeting.	GSTR 1	10&11th of Next Month	31st March 2019
GSTR-3B for the period July 2017 to February 2018 for taxpayers migrating in accordance with the recommendation made by GST council in this regard in its 31st meeting.	GSTR 3B	20thof next month	31st March 2019
Returns by e-commerce operator for the month of October, November and December 2018	GSTR 8	10thof next month	31st January 2019

3. Other highlights of the recommendations are as under:

1. New System of Return filling shall be introduced from 01st April, 2019 and it shall be mandatory from 01st July 2019.
2. To reduce the physical interaction with Government department while filing the refund Form GST RFD-01A online, all supporting documents shall be attached along with mentioned form electronically. This facility shall be made available soon on GST portal. This may enhance the simplicity while applying for refunds compared to current procedures.
3. Single cash ledger for each tax head, modalities for implementation would be finalized in consultation with GSTN and the Accounting authorities.
4. Late fee shall be completely waived for all taxpayers in case FORM GSTR-1, FORM GSTR-3B &FORM GSTR-4 for the months / quarters July, 2017 to September, 2018, are furnished after 22.12.2018 but on or before 31.03.2019. This is the most favourable recommendation made from the aspect of the tax payers as this would bring a huge relief in terms of moneys of the tax payers.
5. Taxpayers who have not filed the returns for two consecutive tax periods shall be restricted from generating e-way bills. In order to regularize the return filing process, it seems that this recommendation has been made.

 

The above recommendations are in totality more inclining towards the benefit of the tax payers and in huge terms. Awaiting elections!!!

 

-Alay Shaishav Mehta

(E) alay@sdmca.in