GST to rollout on July 1, return deadline relaxed by 2 months

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia at the 17th GST Council Meeting at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi PicAFPThe GST Council on Sunday unanimously agreed on a July 1 rollout of the Goods and Services Tax regime despite some pending issues while relaxing the return filing deadline for the first two months and approved the rules on antiprofiteering to protect consumersWhile Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley making these announcements said India does not have the luxury of time to defer implementation of the new indirect tax regime stakeholders hailed the Councils decision to give the initial twomonth relaxation in filing of returnsThe GST Council categorically agreed on the implementation of GST from July 1 Jaitley told reporters here after the penultimate meeting of the Council before the single panIndia GST is officially rolled out on the midnight of June 30 replacing the existing myriad central and state levies on both goods and servicesA number of companies and trades have been raising the issue of the lack of their own preparedness We do not have the luxury of time to defer implementation of GST he said announcing that the next meeting of the Council headed by him would be held on June 30Regarding the governments preparedness Jaitley noted that over 80 per cent registered entities have already received their provisional GST registrationsIf you take from the old system of registrations then there are 8091 lakh assessees of whom some will get excluded Registrations are going on satisfactorily and 656 lakh have already taken provisional registration which is good enough to file returns he said adding that some new trades will come under the GST for the first timeIn this connection the Finance Minister said the Council has allowed businesses a relaxation of time for the first two months JulyAugust for filing their returns These would also need to submit only a simple declaration initially and would have time to furnish the exact invoicebyinvoice data laterThe Council also approved the structure and rules relating to an antiprofiteering authority APAWe want to keep it as a deterrent and hope we are not compelled to use the APA the Finance Minister saidRevenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that under the proposed APA a company can be asked to rollback the price and also refund an amount equal to what it has made through the hike in pricesIt will have a sunset clause of two years Adhia saidThe GST Council on Sunday also decided on a twoslab structure for taxing lottery tickets which Jaitley said proved to be a contentious issueWhile staterun lotteries will be taxed at 12 per cent under the GST stateauthorised private lotteries will attract tax at the highest rate of 28 per centThe Council deferred a decision on eway bills due to lack of consensus which means states which have an eway bill structure in place can continue with it while others are exemptTill a consolidated rule is framed by consensus the transient rule will continue Jaitley said on the eway bill issueEway bill is an electronic way bill for movement of goods which can be generated on the GST Network GSTN portal Movement of goods of more than Rs 50000 in value cannot be effected by a registered person without an eway billBriefing reporters earlier during a pause in the meeting Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said he has requested that textiles and fertilisers be exempted from the GSTThe Council also considered the revision of tax on hotel rooms and decided that while those in the range of Rs 2000Rs 7500 a day tariff would face 18 per cent tax rooms with daily tariff above Rs 7500 would be taxed at 28 per cent Restaurant service in fivestar hotels would attract 18 per cent tax Jaitley saidHe revealed that only three states Tamil Nadu Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were still to complete their necessary legisaltive formalities for implementing the GST regimeHailing the GST Councils decision to give initial twomonths relaxation in filing of returns various stakeholders said the move will give ample time for the businesses to prepare their IT systems and comply with the new indirect tax regimeIt will give more time to traders to prepare themselves to comply with GST law the Confederation of All India Traders CAIT said welcoming the announcement by the Finance MinisterPratik Jain Partner and Leader Indirect Tax at PwC India said Relaxation of time for filing initial invoicewise returns is a welcome move which to some extent allays fears of readiness both from Goods and Services Tax Network GSTN and industrys point of viewAnsh Bhargava Senior Consultant Taxmanncom said It is a welcome decision by the GST Council on the filing as it would allow taxpayers to get accustomed and adapt to the new system of taxationRajeev Dimri Leader Indirect Tax BMR and Associates LLP said This measure should significantly help in assuaging the concerns of inadequate readiness of GSTN being faced by the industry and confirms that preparedness of GSTN will not be a roadblock for the implementation of GST as was being anticipated by the industry