On July 1, 2022, India's ambitious Goods & Services Tax (GST) bill would have been in effect for five years. The same week saw the 47th GST Council meeting, which was set for two days in Chandigarh on the 28th and 29th of June 2022.

Smt Nirmala Sitharaman presided over the meeting attended by the Minister of State for Finance & state ministers, including Shri Pankaj Chaudary, the MoF (state). It was a big meeting convened after several months with several critical concerns, such as Form GSTR-3B modification, rate adjustments and withdrawal of exemptions, inversion corrections, and IT-related actions.

Focus Point of the 47th GST Council Meeting

Around 4 p.m., FM began briefing the media and released a notification about it. She started by thanking the Chandigarh government for its efforts in organising a peaceful two-day summit. Four Group of Ministers (GoM) reports were thoroughly addressed at the meeting. The GST Council's 47th meeting focused on these topics. The following notifications were presented:

• Interim report on rate rationalisation, exemptions, and form of inversion correction
• IT issues concerning betting, gambling, horse racing, internet gaming, and lotteries.
• Movement of valuables such as gold, etc.

Amendments to GSTR-3B will be permitted

GSTR-3B modifications were permitted by the GST Council (Monthly GST return for taxpayers). It also allowed for the auto-population of most information in Form GSTR-3B and annual returns in Form GSTR-9 for enhanced compliance and simplicity of compliance. The Council made it clear that the new GST return method would be phased out since it was no longer necessary. A proposal for extensive changes to GSTR-3B will be made available to the public for comment.

GSTR-9 will continue to loosen some restrictions

• Annual returns for fiscal years 2021-22 may be notified with minor modifications.
• It will continue to apply with minor adjustments and relaxations.
• For the fiscal year 2021-22, GSTR-9 and GSTR-9A remain inapplicable to those having a threshold turnover of less than Rs.2 crore.
• The restriction under Section 73 of the CGST Act for the issue of orders pertaining to demands linked to the due date of annual return for FY 2017-18 has been extended till September 30, 2023.

E-commerce providers are relieved

• The GST Council decided to alleviate compliance bottlenecks for e-commerce sellers.
• It enabled e-commerce service providers to register under the composition system for intrastate supplies, eliminating their registration burden & lowering their tax liability.
• Once the IT infrastructure is in place, the new formatting scheme for e-commerce service providers for intrastate online sales will be embraced on January 1, 2023.
• It indicates that such intrastate e-commerce providers would no longer be required to get mandatory GST registration if their revenue does not exceed Rs.40 lakh (goods) or Rs.20 lakh (services) or such lower restrictions as some states/UTs have set.
• Interstate providers using e-commerce platforms will be required to register regardless of turnover.

Extensions of deadlines for composition taxpayers

• GSTR-4 for FY 2021-22 will be exempt from late fees until July 28, 2022, as opposed to the previous extension of up to June 30, 2022.
• The CMP-08 deadline for April-June 2022 (Q1 of FY 2022-23) has been extended from July 18th to July 30th, 2022.

GST Rate & Exemption List Pruning

The GST Council approved the interim report on the rate rationalisation in its entirety, as well as the majority of the Fitment Committee's recommendations.
 

Clarification of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate 

• 5% for electric cars (whether or not equipped with a battery pack) (eligible for concessional rate).
• Nicotine Polarilex Gum contains 18% nicotine.
• Mangoes in all forms (including mango pulp) - 12%
• Raw or fresh mangoes are excluded.
• Transit freight services to and from Bhutan and Nepal are excluded.
• GST is not imposed on application costs for - Entrance;
• An admission eligibility certificate is issued, or
• A migration certificate is issued.
• Selling advertising space in souvenirs released in the form of books - 5% (eligible for concessional rates).
• Sale of land after levelling, laying of drainage lines, etc. - not subject to GST.

Important GST return points/discussions

• For the Fiscal Year 2021-2022, registered people with an aggregate yearly total sales of up to INR 2 crores will continue to be exempt from filing GST annual returns in Form GSTR-9/ GSTR-9A.
• The waiver of late fees for late submission of Form GSTR-4 returns for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 has been extended until July 28, 2022.
• The waiver of late fees for late submission of returns in Form GST CMP-08 for the first quarter of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 has been extended until July 31, 2022.

Important GST refund points/discussions 

• In the case of an inverted duty framework, the formula established in rule 89(5) will be changed to allow the registered person to claim an input tax credit on input services.
• From March 1, 2020, to February 28th, 2022, Sections 54 and 55 exclude the period from computing the limitation period for making a return claim.

Conclusion
The other important notifications on the GST Council meeting are provided on the official website. The Finance Ministry further stated that the 48th GST Council meeting would take place in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in the first week of August 2022. Based on the GoM's recommendation, the agenda will include the establishment of GST Appellate Tribunals and the determination of the GST rate on casinos, internet gambling, and other similar activities.