GST COUNCIL
NEED FOR A GST COUNCIL
• As stated earlier, GST Council is the governing body for the
implementation of GST rules in India.
• It is tasked with the duties to make important decisions and changes in
GST.
• The GST Council is authorized to determine the rate of tax applicable
under the GST model, tax exemption rules, the due date of submitting
GST forms, tax-related laws and deadlines and special exemptions for
some States of India.
• The GST Council is tasked to ensure that one uniform rate of GST is
applied to goods and services across India.
STRUCTURE OF THE GST COUNCIL
• The structure of the GST Council is determined by Article 279 (1) of the amended
Constitution of India. This Article states that the GST Council should be constituted
by the President of India within a period of 60 days of the inception of Article 279A.
The Article states that GST Council should be joint forum of the Central Government
as well as the State Governments. It would consist of the following members –
• The Chairperson of the council would be the Union Finance Minister of the country.
Presently, Mr. Arun Jaitley is the Union Finance Minister of India and as such he is
also the Chairperson of the GST Council
• The Union Minister of State would be a member of the GST Council.
He/she would be in charge of the Revenue of the Finance.
• The members of the GST Council would be the minister in charge of
finance or taxation or an other minister nominated by the respective
State Governments. Each State Government would nominate one
minister to act as a member of the GST Council
Duties of the GST Council
• Besides governing GST implementation in the country, the GST
Council has two major duties to dispose of.
• These include making recommendations and holding GST Council
meetings.
GST COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS
• According to the provisions laid down under Article 279A (4), the GST Council has
the duty to make recommendations about GST to the Union Government as well as
the State Governments.
• The council would decide which goods and services would be charged GST and
which would be exempted from it. Thereafter, the GST Council has the duty of
creating laws and principles about the place of supply, threshold limits, special
rates of GST for certain States of India, the applicable GST rates on various goods
and services and special rates of GST during a natural calamity or a disaster so that
additional resources can be raised for meeting the financial losses suffered, etc.
GST Council meetings
• Another important duty of the GST Council is to meet and discuss the GST rules and laws which would be beneficial
for dealers.
• Ever since the GST Council has been formed, various meetings have taken place. In the last GST Council meeting, the
council decided that GST should be implemented on e-way bills which require goods valued more than INR 50,000 to
be registered before they are moved.
• Besides formulating laws on GST, the GST Council also took decisions on the following aspects –
For Indian States, except the special category States, the threshold limit for Exemption of GST would be set at INR 40
lakhs
In the case of special category States, the threshold limit for exemption of GST is set at INR 10 lakhs
• In the case of composition schemes, the threshold limit for GST exemption is set at INR 1.5 cr for the Indian
States. However, for the Northeastern States and for Himachal Pradesh, the threshold limit of GST exemption
is set at INR 50 lakhs
• Similarly, in the 34th GST Council meeting, some of the decisions taken by the council included the
following –The GST rate on non-affordable houses was lowered by 5%. For affordable houses, the GST rate
was lowered to 1%. This lowered GST rate would be applicable to under-construction properties
• Realty estate developers can choose an older GST rate of 12% on non-affordable houses. In the case of
affordable houses, the GST rate of 8% can be chosen till May 10, 2019
• If the old GST rate is chosen by any builder, the builder would not be able to claim the input tax credit.
• Besides these two duties, the GST Council also makes rules regarding GST registration, valuation, payment
of GST, input tax credit, GST return, composition, transitional provisions, invoice and claiming refund, etc.
WHENEVER A GST COUNCIL MEETING IS HELD, THE
FOLLOWING RULES MUST BE COMPLIED WITH
• –At least 50% of the total number of GST members must be present at every GST Council meeting so that
the meeting can be called a valid meeting
• Every decision that is taken in GST Council meetings should be backed by a minimum of 75% majority of
the weighted votes cast by the members of the council. The members should be present in the meeting and
should also vote. For understanding the weighted votes cast by the Central Government and State
Government members, Article 279A lays down the following rules –
• The vote of the Central Government would have the weightage of 1/3rd of the total votes cast
• The votes of the members of the State Government would have the weightage of 2/3rd of the
total votes cast
• Any type of activity, the decision is taken, or proceedings of the GST Council meeting would
not be considered invalid if there have been the following deficiencies when the GST Council
was established –
• A vacancy remained in the council
• There was a defect in the constitution of the council
• There was a defect in appointing an individual as a member of the council
• In case of non-compliance with a procedure
DISPUTE HANDLING BY THE GST
COUNCIL
•Disputes between the Central Government and the State Government of a
State
•The disputes between the Central Government and one or more States on
one side and one or more States on the other side.
•Disputes between two or more States which occurred due to any
recommendation of the GST Council or due to the implementation of the
recommendation of the council.
THANK YOU
