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Updated September 15th, 2021 at 19:00 IST

FM Nirmala Sitharaman to chair 45th GST Council meet on September 17 in UP

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be charing the 45th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meet on September 17 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh
PTI | Image:self
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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be charing the 45th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meet on September 17 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The meeting will be the maiden physical meet of the GST council following the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary and finance ministers from all states will attend the meeting. 

The last GST Council meeting was held virtually through video conference on June 12 when the country witnessed the explosive second wave of the COVID pandemic. The meet had concluded with the reduction in tax rates on most COVID related supplies while also providing tax exemption on medicines and treatment of Mucormycosis.

The Ministry of Finance had extended the last date for availing the GST amnesty scheme where taxpayers pay a reduced fee for late filing of monthly returns, till November 30, 2021.  

Finance Minister to introduce GST common electronic portal

The council is expected to discuss pending issues such as states compensation and revision of GST rates on COVID utilities. The Union Finance Minister is also expected to launch a common electronic portal, http://gst.gov.in. The GST portal will be used for registration, tax payment, furnishing IT returns, and computation and settlement of IGST. Furthermore, the September 17 GST Council meeting will help expedite the process for authentication of Aadhar of existing GST users. Further, the council will clarify the interest levied on wrongful/ineligible ITC claims, CNBC-TV18 reported.

Special tax levy for Sikkim to be viewed

As per sources, the GST Council would consider the Group of Ministers' (GoM) report to allow a special tax levy on pharma and electricity in Sikkim. The GoM too is in favour of allowing Sikkim a 1 per cent tax levy on intra-state supply of pharmaceutical items for three years and explore a proposal to levy Rs 0.1 per unit of electricity consumption or sale since it is a state subject that is outside the purview of the Goods and Services Tax. The GoM has further urged the Centre to consider a special package of Rs 300 crore per annum as an aid to Sikkim till 2023 to help it recover losses made due to the COVID pandemic.

Image: PTI

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Published September 15th, 2021 at 18:59 IST

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