Recommendations of 37th GST Council Meeting

The GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising representatives of all States and Union Territories (UTs), had its 37th meeting in Goa on 20th Sept 2019. The recommendations of the GST Council will be implemented from October 1, 2019.

Key recommendations of the meet:

  • Relaxation in filing of annual return for MSMEs for FY 2017-18 & 2018-19
    • GSTR 9A for Composition Taxpayers - Waived off
    • GSTR 9 for taxpayers whose aggregate turnover is up to 2 crore - Optional
  • Simplification of Forms in Annual Return and reconciliation statement.
  • New GST return system to be implemented from April, 2020 (earlier was from Oct 2019)
  • Restriction on availment of ITC by recipients in cases where the GSTR 1 is not filed by suppliers.
  • Issuance of Circulars for,
    • Procedure to claim refund in Form GST RFD-01A
    • Clarification regarding supply of Information Technology enabled Services
  • Withdrawal of Circular No.105/24/2019-GST dated 28.06.2019, which was issued in respect of post-sales discount
  • Decision to link Aadhar with registration of taxpayers and possibility of making Aadhar mandatory for claiming refund.
  • Integrated refund system with disbursal by single authority to be introduced from 24th September, 2019.
  • Amendments in CGST Act, UTGST Act, and the corresponding SGST Acts in view of creation of UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Change in GST Rate:

The new rates shall be effective from 1st October, 2019.

Item Current Rate New Rate
Plates and cups made of flowers, leaves and bark 5% Nil
Caffeinated Beverages 18% 28%+12% cess
Supplies of Railways wagons & coaches (without refund of accumulated ITC) 5% 12%
Outdoor Catering (without ITC) 18% 5%
Diamond Job work 5% 1.50%
Other Job work 18% 12%
Hotels (Room Tariff of Rs.7501 or above) 28% 18%
Hotels (Room Tariff from Rs 1,001 to Rs 7,500) 18% 12%
Woven/ Non-woven Polyethylene Packaging bags 18% 12%
Marine fuel 18% 5%
Almond Milk - 18%
Slide fasteners 18% 12%
Wet grinders (consisting of stone as a grinder) 12% 5%
Dried Tamarind 5% Nil
Semi-precious stones- cut & polished 3% 0.25%
Cess on petrol motor vehicles (capacity of 10-13 passangers) 15% 1%
Cess on diesel motor vehicles (capacity of 10-13 passangers) 15% 3%

Other measures:

  • Aerated drink manufacturers shall not be under composition scheme anymore.
  • Supplies to FIFA- specified persons for the Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup in India
  • Supply to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for specified projects in India
  • Imports of certain defence goods not made indigenously (up to 2024)
  • Supply of silver/platinum by specified agencies (Diamond India Ltd) for export
  • Import of Silver or Platinum by specified agencies (Diamond India Ltd)
  • Insurance provided to Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to be exempt from GST.
  • Prospectively, warehousing of certain agricultural products has been exempted from GST.

Disclaimer:"The information contained herein is only for informational purpose and should not be considered for any particular instance or individual or entity. We have obtained information from publicly available sources, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or it will continue to be accurate in future. No one should act on such information without obtaining professional advice after thorough examination of particular situation."

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