GST Council gives formal nod to IGST & CGST Model Laws; Bills to be tabled in Parliament on March 27; Composition Scheme to be extended to restaurants but tax rate to be 5%
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, MAR 04, 2017: AS reported by TIOL earlier, the GST Council today gave its final nod to the legally-vetted Model Laws. The two Model Laws for which the first round of legal vetting was obtained from the Ministry of Law were the two most contentious IGST and CGST laws.
With the Centre conceding a large share of the turf to the States at its ninth meeting in terms of 90:10 division of assessee-base below Rs 1.5 Crore threshold, cross-empowerment under the IGST and extension of State jurisdiction to the territorial waters, it was expected that the State would not have much to discuss about. In this background, the GST Council proceedings commenced today and within hours the IGST and CGST Model Laws were approved. A couple of clarifications required were left to be handled by the Law Committee of officers. The Council Members extended their unanimous support to the Model Laws.
It was also decided that the Central Govt would seek Cabinet approval for tabling the Bills in the Parliament during the Budget Session. When TIOL spoke to some Members they said that the Centre may try to table the Model GST Bills in the House on March 27. It is also hoped that the Bills would sail through the Parliament as they are going to be Money Bills.
The Council is going to meet again on March 16 after the festival of colours on March 13. And, interestingly, the meeting has been scheduled at 5 PM for two hours as the Parliament would be in session. In this two-hour meet, the Council is expected to approve the Model SGST and also perhaps the UTGST. In any case, as per Mr Arun Jaitley, all the Bills are going to be tabled in the House together.
During the Press Conference, in reply to a question, the Revenue Secretary, Dr Hashmukh Adhia, said that the Council has also decided to offer the Composition Scheme to restaurants up to a turnover of Rs 50 lakh but the tax rate would be 5%. He also said that the Composition Scheme would be available to only traders and small manufacturers except a few sectors up to Rs 50 lakh.
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