Bharatmala Pariyojana

It was further decided that once the GST levy becomes applicable on October 1, it will be reviewed after six months, and if need arises, changes may be made in it. The decision was taken during the GST Council meeting, which was held virtually by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The meeting of the GST council, which is headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will be held virtually. On July 11, the GST council decided that there will be a 28 per cent GST levy on full value of gaming, horse racing and casinos. The decision had led to disappointment in the gaming industry, which had even written to the finance ministry, urging it to revoke the decision.

Among other issues, the Council approved exemption of GST on import of cancer drug Dinutuximab and on Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) that are used in the treatment of rare diseases. Maharashtra's Forest, Culture and Fisheries minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters that the GST council also approved setting up of appellate tribunals.

The GST Council is scheduled to meet on July 11. Chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Vivek Johri said this while speaking to reporters at the sidelines of an event. He further informed that the finance ministry may consider imposing countervailing duty on steel imports from China.

Out of the total GST collections of Rs 1,57,090 crore for May, CGST was Rs 28,411 crore, SGST was Rs 35,828 crore, IGST was Rs 81,363 crore (including Rs 41,772 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was Rs 11,489 crore (including Rs 1,057 crore collected on import of goods).

"There is no wish list. Just one wish. Zero tax," quipped a Tamil Nadu government employee. While that may be possible in utopia another interesting wish expressed by a chartered accountant is the linking of dividends declared by companies to the market value of the shares.

The GST Council has made the recommendations relating to changes in GST tax rates, measures for facilitation of trade and measures for streamlining compliances in GST. As per the Council recommendations, GST on husk of pulses reduced to nil from five per cent.

Appreciating wholeheartedly the major decision of the GST Council to allow small unregistered vendors to sell their goods through e-commerce portals, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for this "progressive decision" which was demanded by CAIT since last more than two years.

Moreover, it also recommended reducing the compounding amount from the present range of 50 per cent to 150 per cent of tax amount to the range of 25 per cent to 100 per cent.Measures for facilitation of trade also included recommendation on decriminalising certain offences including obstruction or preventing any officer in discharge of his duties; deliberate tempering of material evidence and failure to supply the information.