CBIC: News of change in GST rate speculation, Council did not hold any such discussion

New Delhi| Amidst the continuously increasing speculations regarding the change in GST rates, a big claim of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has come to light. It has been told that the GST Council has not yet discussed any change in the GST rate. The Council has also not received the recommendations of the GOM (Group of Ministers). Indeed, the GOM is to finalize its recommendations and will then submit them to the Council, after which the Council will take a final decision on the recommendations of the GOM.

In this matter, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation Cess, led by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, on Monday decided to seek six months’ time from the GST Council to submit the report. This group includes ministers from Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This group was ordered to submit its report to the GST Council by 31 December.

According to an official, the GOM has decided that there are several legal issues related to compensation cess, which will have to be discussed in detail, which will take time. Therefore, he decided to seek an extension of time for the submission of the report to the Council. According to the official, an extension of 5-6 months can be sought from the GST Council.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), which decides tax on different things in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, held a meeting on Monday. It was decided that tax on goods harmful to the society would be increased. In view of this, it has been decided to impose 35 percent tax on cigarettes, tobacco, cold drinks and other carbonated drinks and products related to them. Right now the tax rate on these products is fixed at 28 per cent.

Along with this, in this matter, the group of ministers under the leadership of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary decided on rationalization of tax rates on clothes. Under this, readymade garments up to Rs 1500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while garments between 1500 and 10 thousand will be taxed at 18 per cent and garments above 10,000 at 28 per cent.