GST Council fixes 28% uniform tax rate for lottery – The Economic Times

GST Council fixes 28% uniform tax rate for lottery, extends GSTR 9 & 9C return filing

The 38th GST Council has voted for the first time since it was constituted to decide on having a single rate on lotteries. The single rate of 28 per cent will come into effect from March 1, 2020, reports said.

The GST Council meeting in New Delhi was chaired by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

At present, lotteries run by state governments attract 12% GST while those authorised by them and sold outside the state are taxed at 28%.

Here are some of the major announcements: 

*Deadline for GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C return filing for 2017-18 extended to January 31, 2020 from December 31, 2019 earlier.

*GST Council exempts long term lease on industrial plots to facilitate setting up of industrial parks.

*Land lease GST rates to be applicable from January 1, 2020.

*Presentation made before the Council on augmentation of revenue but nothing related to rate hike was part of the presentation. Data on revenue to be studied before taking any decision.

*Penalty for non-filing of GSTR-1 from July 2017 relaxed.

*Uniform rate of 18% for woven and non-woven bags.

*Input tax credit to be restricted to 10 per cent from 20 earlier if invoices not uploaded.

Speaking on the GST Council outcome, M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India, said, “it is good to see that the rates have been left unchanged as frequent alterations create business difficulties.”

On revenue augmentation, Mani added: “The focus on revenue augmentation measures could lead to several anti evasion measures in the coming months as the decision to block ITC in cases of fake invoicing indicates.”

“On expected lines the GST rates of products were not increased, as the decision making process is still underway. Many states were apprehensive of the idea of rate increase and various industry bodies have made a request to not change the rates,” said Harpreet Singh, partner, indirect taxes, KPMG India.

The Centre has set a target of Rs 1.10 lakh crore a month for the remaining four months of the current fiscal.

The government had cleared the pending GST compensation to the tune of RS 35,298 crore just a few days before the Council meeting. A number of states, especially the opposition-ruled ones, had raised the issue of pending GST compensation for the months of August-September. The Centre is yest to clear the compensation for the months of October-November.

The GST Council meeting took place in the backdrop of falling collections for the current fiscal. In a reply in Lok Sabha, MoS Finance Anurag Thakur said that the GST collection for the period April-November fell 40 per cent. The actual CGST collection during April-November stood at Rs 3,28,365 crore while the budgeted estimate is of Rs 5,26,000 crore for these months.