32nd GST Council Meet —All You Need to Know

Presenting to you the major updates and announcements made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from the 32nd GST Council Meeting.

The first GST Council meeting of 2019 went underway at New Delhi yesterday under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley.

Presenting to you on our GST update blog today, all the major announcements made at the 32nd Goods and Service Tax Council Meet:

Exemption Limit Increased for GST Registration

In a move to boost the SMEs(Small and Medium scaled Enterprises) of the country, the GST exemption threshold from the earlier cap of INR 20 lakh has been increased to INR 40 lakh.

This decision will be welcomed by small business owners with low revenue who had to go through the hassle of registering themselves to the GST body.

Similarly, the exemption limit for the Special Category States has also been extended from INR 10 lakh to INR 20 lakh.

Note: GST Council also mentioned that the states would have the discretion to opt out or opt in the GST exemption limit i.e. choose between 2 options — INR 20 lakh or INR 40 lakh. These states will need to inform the Secretariat within a week of the meeting, in case they wish to change the exemption limit of their respective states.

Changes in the composition schemes

Effective 1st April 19, the limit of annual turnover for composition scheme will be increased from INR I crore to INR 1.5 crore according to the GST Council.

Note: The Council also mentioned that special category states will within one week need to decide about the composition limit of their respective States.

Another significant decision made at the meeting was also allowing composition taxpayers to file one annual GST return while letting them pay the taxes quarterly.

New Composition scheme for Services providers

Suppliers rendering either independent services to their customers or providing a mixed supply of goods & services with an annual turnover of up to Rs 50 lakhs in the preceding financial year, can join the new composition scheme. The tax rate here will be a fixed 6%(3% CGST and 3%SGST)

Kerala Natural Disaster Cess

Last but certainly not the least, the Council also considered a report of the Group of Ministers (GoM). The GoM was set up after a demand for a cess was raised by Kerala following the floods that hit the state in August, last year.

GST Council approved the levy of tax on intra-state supply of goods and services within the State of Kerala at a rate not more than 1% for a period that not exceeds 2 years.

In Conclusion:

Needless to say, the extension of the GST threshold limit and the Kerala Natural disaster cess, is bound to provide a huge relief to many small businesses across the nation.

Stay GST compliant and file your GST returns directly with giddh.