Big GST Meeting Today, Petrol, Diesel May Be Brought Within Ambit

45th GST Council Meet 2021: Bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of indirect tax, GST compensation shortfall to states are some of the issues that could be discussed by the Council

EconomyReported by Himanshu Shekhar Mishra, Edited by Nikita PrasadUpdated: September 17, 2021 12:15 pm IST

by Taboola

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GST Council Meet 2021: The 45th GST Council meeting is being held today in Lucknow

GST Council Meeting 2021: A big meet today of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which includes the Centre and states, is expected to decide on bringing petrol and diesel within the ambit of indirect tax and reducing taxes on COVID-19 medicines. This is the first on-ground GST Council meeting in almost 20 months. The last meeting was held in 2019, before the pandemic. (Also Read: 45th GST Council Meeting: What Analysts Expect )

Ministry of Finance

@FinMinIndia

·Sep 16, 2021

Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman will chair the 45th GST Council meeting at 11 AM in Lucknow today. The meeting will be attended by MOS Shri @mppchaudhary besides Finance Ministers of States & UTs and Senior officers from Union Government & States.

Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman chairing the 45th GST Council meeting in Lucknow today. MOS Shri @mppchaudhary , Finance Ministers of States & UTs and Senior officers from Union Government & States are also present in the meeting

45th GST Council Meeting 2021: The Agenda 

1. GST on petrol, diesel 

The meet will discuss bringing petrol and diesel within the ambit of GST. On June 21, the Kerala High Court had directed that petrol and diesel should be included in GST, as fuel prices touched record highs this year. The court said the GST Council, which includes the Centre and states, should consider it. 

The meeting is likely to discuss levying GST on petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), according to sources. 

Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar have said that they are completely against any idea to include petrol, diesel under GST. 

2. Extending reduced GST rates on essential Covid medicines

The Council is likely to discuss extending the GST rate reduction from 12 per cent to five per cent on four important medicines required for the treatment of COVID-19 -  Tocilizumab, Amphotericin B, Remdesivir and anti-coagulants such as Heparin – till December 31. The rate reduction on these medicines is currently valid till September 30. 

Earlier this year, the GST Council reduced tax rates on medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrator/generator and ventilators among other related medical devices from 12 per cent to five per cent - based on the recommendations of a group of ministers.

ALSO READ

• 45th GST Council Meeting: What Analysts Expect
• GST Panel May Consider Bringing Petrol, Diesel Under GST Ambit: Report
• Special GST Council Session To Be Held For Compensation-Related Issues

3. Shortfall in GST compensation to states

A GST compensation of ₹1,13,000 crore has been released to states since April 2020. However, the amount in the GST compensation fund is not enough to meet the full amount expected by states because of the impact of Covid on GST and GST cess collection, sources say. 

4. GST on food delivery services

The GST Council is likely to discuss treating food delivery services (including takeaway, door delivery services) as “restaurant service”. These services may draw five per cent GST, according to sources.

If the proposal goes through, major food delivery apps such as Zomato and Swiggy will be included in the five per cent GST slab