Minutes of 35th GST Council Meeting held on 21st June, 2019

Minutes of 35th GST Council Meeting held on 21st June 2019 

The 35th Meeting of the GST Council (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Council’) was held on 21st June 2019 under the Chairpersonship of the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman (hereinafter referred to as the Chairperson). A list of the Hon’ble Members of the Council who attended the meeting is at Annexure 1. A list of officers of the Centre, the States, the GST Council, and the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) who attended the meeting is at Annexure 2.

2. The following agenda items were listed for discussion in the 35th Meeting of the Council:

1. Guidelines on data sharing with CAG by the Central and the State Tax Administration in the GST regime

2. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 34th GST Council Meeting held on 19th March 2019

3. Deemed ratification by the GST Council of Notifications, Circulars, and Orders issued by the Central Government

4. Decisions of the GST Implementation Committee (GIC) for information of the Council

5. Review of Revenue Position

6. Issues recommended by the Law Committee for the consideration of the GST Council

i. Amendments in GST Laws

ii. Update on the status of the issues referred to the Law Committee by the GST Council

iii. Proposal for e-ticketing for cinema tickets

iv. Clarification regarding taxability of services provided by an office of an organization in one State to the office of that organization in another State, both being distinct persons

v. Proposed timeline for introduction ofNew Return system

vi. Staggered extension of the due date of filing returns in FORM GSTR-9, FORM GSTR-9A and reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C

vii. Proposal to extend the due date for filing of declaration in FORM GST ITC-04 for the period July 2017 to June 2019

7. Issues recommended by the Fitment Committee for the consideration of the GST Council

i. Recommendations of Group of Ministers on Lottery

ii. Changes in the GST rate on electric vehicles and related supplies

iii. Informing GST Council regarding the direction of Hon’ble High Court of Delhi to examine the valuation mechanism prescribed for Solar Power Generating System (SGPS)

iv. Review of GST Council recommendation for applying a reduced rate of GST on sale and leasing of motor vehicles with effect from 1st July 2017

8. Creation of the State and Area Benches of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GST AT)

9. Introduction of Electronic Invoicing System

10. Issues relating to National Anti-profiteering Authority

i. Quarterly Report of the NAA (National Anti-profiteering Authority) for the quarter January to March 2019 for the information of the Council

ii. Extension of tenure of National Anti-profiteering Authority

iii. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the field formations regarding Anti-profiteering investigations

11. Recommendations of the Committee of Officers on the use of RFID data for the strengthening of E-waybill system under GST

12. Waiver of Interest on delayed receipt of Advance User Charges (AUC) from few States and CBIC

13. Any other agenda item with the permission of the Chairperson

i. Blocking and unblocking of e-way bill facility as per the provision of Rule 138E of GST Rules, 2017

14. Date of the next meeting of the GST Council

Preliminary Discussion:

3. On behalf of the Council, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, the Union Revenue Secretary and the Secretary to the Council (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) welcomed Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Union Finance Minister as the new Chairperson of the GST Council. He also welcomed Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State (Finance), Government of India as the new Member of the Council from the Central Government.

3.1. The Secretary placed on record the Council’s appreciation of the exemplary contribution made by Shri Arun Jaitley, the earlier Union Finance Minister and Chairperson, GST Council in the rollout of GST and the working of the Council. ln this regard, he read out the following resolution for adoption by the Council outlining his contribution which would then be presented to Shri Arun Jaitley as a token of appreciation from the GST Council:

“The Goods and Services Tax Council, in its thirty-fifth meeting held on 21st June 2019;

Having recalled the stellar role played by Shri Anm Jaitley, the earlier Union Finance Minister and Chairperson, GST Council in the roll-out of GST;

Having reflected upon the leadership exhibited by him during a discussion on the design of GST, in forging a consensus between the Centre and the States which had been elusive for more than a decade and a half;

Noting the immense patience and erudition shown by him in ensuring that all contentious issues were discussed threadbare before arriving at a solution acceptable to all;

Having recollected the many numbers of instances in which his legal acumen guided the Council in its deliberations on difficult legal issues;

Expresses its gratitude and appreciation for the exemplary contribution made by him in making the GST Council a shining example of Cooperative Federalism that it has become today.”

3.2. Shri Mauvin Godinho, Hon’ble Minister from Goa, suggested adding the following lines in the last sentence of the proposed resolution: ” … which was also greatly responsible for rekindling a new nationalistic fervour cutting across the political spectrum.” The Council agreed to add this additional sentence in the resolution. Shri V. Narayanasamy, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Puducherry stated that in arriving at a consensus through negotiations and dialogues on all the issues of GST, the contribution of the former Finance Minister, Shri A run Jaitley is highly laudable.

3.3. The Secretary also placed on record the Council’s appreciation for the contribution of Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla, the then Minister of State (Finance) in the working of the Council and as the Convenor of the Group of Ministers on MSMEs.

3.4. Further, he informed that in view of the recent State Assembly elections, some of the erstwhile Council Members namely, Shri Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, the then Minister – Finance, Planning, Commercial Taxes & Legislative Affairs, Andhra Pradesh, Shri Shashi Bhusan Behera, the then Minister- Finance & Excise, Odisha and Shri R. B. Subba, the -then Minister for Human Resource Development, Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Sikkim were no longer associated with the Council as its Members. He observed that they had all been part of the Council during its intensive deliberations preparatory to GST roll-out and placed on record the Council’s appreciation for the contribution made by them to the working of the Council.

3.5. On behalf of the Council, he also welcomed the following new members from the States:  (i) Shri Niranjan Pujari, Minister of Finance & Excise, Odisha; (ii) Shri Buggana Rajendranath, Finance Minister, Andhra Pradesh;  (iii) Shri B. S. Panth, Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Commerce and Industries, Sikkim; and (iv) Shri Satpal Maharaj, Minister for Irrigation, Flood Control, Rain Water Harvesting and Water Management, Uttarakhand.

3.6. He also expressed the Council’s deepest condolences at the untimely demise of Shri Prakash Pant, erstwhile Finance Minister of Uttarakhand who passed away on 5th June 2019. The Secretary recalled that Shri Pant was associated with the Council’s deliberations since its 13th Meeting held on 31st March 2017 and attended 16 Council Meetings. He made a very valuable contribution in the deliberations of the Council and actively highlighted the concerns of the Special Category States, MSMEs and Small taxpayers.

3.7. The Hon’ble Chairperson asked the House whether the resolution read out earlier extolling the contribution of Shri Arun Jaitley along with the proposed addition to it by the Hon’ble Minister from Goa was acceptable to all the Members. The Council unanimously approved the resolution along with the proposed addition. Thereafter, she made brief opening remarks.

3.8. In her opening remarks, she expressed her pleasure in welcoming her colleague, Minister of State of Finance, Shri Anurag Thakur, the Members of the GST Council from different States and UTs with legislatures, which also included two Hon’ble Chief Ministers and four Hon’ble Deputy Chief Ministers of States. She also welcomed all the senior officials from the Centre and the States.

3.9. She stated that since the inception of the GST Council on 15th September 2016, it has done tremendous work and ushered in the most landmark indirect tax reform in the post-independent India. The benefits of GST were already visible. It has simplified the indirect tax landscape of the country, which was earlier marked by a completely bewildering variety of Central and State Tax levies. It has helped to consolidate and enhance tax collection. It has also led to a uniform, modern IT-enabled tax administration which is uniform across the entire country. She added that they needed to carry forward the good work of the Council. There was more work to do on simplification of GST laws, rationalisation of rate structure, bringing in more items into the sphere of GST and addressing any other issues which periodically gets raised by stakeholders. She observed that in a nutshell, there was a lot of work to do. 

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