New Delhi sources have made a statement that the all powerful GST Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to discuss reducing rates of close to 60 items in its next meeting on October 24 in New Delhi. A senior government official said “Around 100 items were there in the Council meeting's agenda on Saturday. Only 40 items could be taken up for discussion as we were running out of time. Remaining items will be considered in the next meeting on October 24".
According to sources the Council, which met in Hyderabad, extended the deadline for filing the first set of returns, a move that will benefit millions of traders who have been struggling to upload invoices in the new tax system’s portal. Apart from discussing the liquidity crunch that the states are going through, the team also discussed the way out for technical glitches on the tax return filing portal GST Network (GSTN).
Currently the GST has four broad slab structures 5,
12, 18 and 28% along with a cess on luxury and demerit goods such as tobacco,
pan masala and aerated drinks. The
compensation would be met through levy of a 'GST Compensation Cess' on luxury
items and sin goods like tobacco, for the first five years.
