26th GST Council Meet concluded on Saturday, the 10th March 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
Key decisions made:
- GST Return Simplification: Current GST Return filing system to continue for next
3 months. Taxpayers can continue to file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B as the GSTN is
constantly improved to accommodate the new challenges.
- On the E-Way Bill front :
- Inter-state implementation of
E-way bill to be implemented from 1st April 2018
- Intra-state implementation of
E-Way Bill to take off from 15th April 2018 a
phased manner. States to be divided into 4 lots to execute this phased
rollout
- Reverse Charge Mechanism (in case of supplies made by unregistered persons
to registered persons) delayed till 1st July 2018
- TDS & TCS applicability postponed until 30th June 2018 pending
procedural
- Exporters presently availing various export promotion
schemes can now continue to avail such exemptions on their imports up
to 1st October 2018by which time an e-Wallet scheme is expected to be
in place with effect from 1st April 2018, to continue the benefits in
future
- Council has advised the GSTN to
expedite the export refund claims
- No GST rate changes announced
- A committee has been
formed to look into the Grievance redressal mechanism with
respect to user’s grievances surrounding the IT glitches on the GSTN
Following were the key areas that were expected to be addressed at
this 26th GST Council Meet:
A. Simplification of return filing and Scheme of input credit
claim
- To
Focus on: Origin
point for ITC claim whether at the time of Supplier’s Sales Invoices
uploading or at the time of Return filing by the buyer will be most
likely to be settled this meet
- Invoice upload by the Supplier
& recipient likely to be regular ongoing process and Invoices
accepted by the supplier to be accepted or rejected by the
recipient and accordingly acceptances up to a certain date of
the month shall be processed for ITC claims of the relevant month
- A
system of Single monthly return & the Quarterly reconciliation of
Invoices/documents uploaded is on the cards. The new Return filing may be
implemented on trial basis before the full-fledged applicability.
Also, two due dates in the month likely to be fixed for filing
returns for large and small taxpayers to address the tech crashes
- Affected taxpayers: Those who
are liable to file GSTR-1, GSTR-2 & GSTR-3
- Unaffected taxpayers may be
taxpayers filing only GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A or GSTR-6
- The GSTR-3B filing facility
which expires on March 31 likely to continue for few more months.
B. E-way bill review and implementation
- April
1st Roll out for Interstate applicability most likely
- Intra-States
applicability – 4 to 5 states may first see implementation on a pilot
basis
C. Composition scheme changes
- Enhancing
threshold for Composition Scheme to Rs 3-5 crore from the current limit
of Rs 1 crore
- RCM
under section 9(4) to be made applicable to a composition dealer as well.
D. Rate changes
- Rationalisation
of GST on agricultural implements and items used by farmers
- The
government’s push towards clean energy may translate towards trimming
rates on e-vehicles.
E. Other decisions expected:
- Levy of GST on extra neutral
alcohol (ENA) likely to push up the prices of Consumable liquor,
one of its end-product
- Centralized
registration for service providers like banks, financial institutions and
insurance firms
- To
remove restrictions on the input tax credit (ITC), as recommended by the
law review committee that had submitted its suggestions on how GST could
be made more compliance-friendly and effective
- Amendment
of the ITC provision in the GST to enable any business to take credit for
any business-related expenses (employee transport etc.)
- Entry
of natural gas and real estate in the indirect tax regime
- Streamline the Anti-Profiteering
mechanism thereby giving more strength to the regulatory body-
National Profiteering Authority (NAA).