TMI BlogMinutes of the 24th GST Council Meeting held on 16 December 2017X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Members of the Council and then took up discussion on the agenda items. Discussion on agenda items: Agenda item 1: Confirmation of the Minutes of the 23rd GST Council Meeting held on 10 November, 2017 4. The Hon'ble Chairperson stated that the Minutes of the 23 rd Meeting of the Council could be taken up for confirmation during this Meeting or in the next meeting. Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Union Finance Secretary and Secretary to the Council (hereinafter referred to as the ' Secretary') informed that written comments had been received from the Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat with regard to replacement of their versions. The Government of Rajasthan in its letter No. F. 17(105) ACCT/GST/2016/2936 dated 15.12.2017 had suggested the following changes in the Minutes: 4.1. In paragraph 17, reference of 'granite' may be added in the statement of the Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan and that his statement may read as follows: 'The Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan observed that marble and granite were neither luxury items nor sin goods and that a large number of persons were engaged in marble and granite industry. He added that marbles and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s, the Council could approve the Minutes but if Members felt that more discussion was required on the Minutes, it could be deferred and taken up for discussion during the next meeting of the Council. There were no other comments on the Minutes. The Hon'ble Ministers from Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu suggested to confirm the Minutes during this meeting itself. The Council agreed to the same. 5. For agenda item 1 , the Council decided to adopt the Minutes of the 23rd Meeting of the Council with the following changes: 5.1. To replace the version of the Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan in paragraph 17 of the Minutes with the following: 'The Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan observed that marble and granite were neither luxury items nor sin goods and that a large number of persons were engaged in marble and granite industry. He added that marbles and granite were of different grades and quality. He argued to keep marble and granite tiles in the rate slab of 18%.' 5.2. To replace the version of the Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan in paragraph 17.22. of the Minutes with the following: 'The Hon'ble Minister from Rajasthan stated that kota stone was a va ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rom 1 April, 2018. He stated that during the meeting held on 9 December, 2017, the view of the officers was to start inter-State e-Way Bill System from a uniform date. In view of this, an urgent meeting of the Council had been convened through video conference. He stated that prior to the Council Meeting, detailed consultation was also held with GSTN and NIC (National Informatics Centre). During review, it was revealed that the hardware had been installed but the software licence had come only yesterday, and therefore, NlC needed some more time for all India roll out of e-Way Bill System. NlC requested that roll out could be done from 16 January, 2018 instead of I January, 2018. NIC had also suggested a staggered approach for implementing e-Way Bill System for inter-State and intra-State movement of goods. The Secretary stated that additional 15 days could be provided for all-India roll out of e-Way Bill System for inter-State movement of goods so that technical glitches could be avoided. He recalled that the initial glitches with the GSTN system had invited a lot of flak for the GST and the same should be avoided during implementation of e-Way Bill System. He added that after 16 J ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... em for intra-State movement of goods from 1 March, 2018. The Hon'ble Minister from Tamil Nadu stated that his State would be ready for roll out of e-Way Bill System by 1 January, 2018 for both inter-State and intra-State movement of goods. The Hon'ble Minister from Uttarakhand supported the proposal of the Secretary. He further informed that his State had started implementation of both intra-State and inter-State e-Way Bill System on trial basis from 15 December, 2017 and till now, 4450 e-Way bills had been generated and 782 transporters had registered for their e-Way Bill System. They were monitoring the implementation of the e-Way Bill System. 6.4. The Hon'ble Minister from Maharashtra stated that the proposed date of 1 February, 2018 for roll out of e-Way Bill System for inter-State movement of goods was acceptable to them but they would need more time for implementation of e-Way Bill System for intra-State movement of goods. The Hon'ble Minister from Telangana stated that due to the problem of tax evasion, they had started e-Way Bill System from 16 August, 2017 and were keen to have it implemented from 1 January, 2018. The Secretary stated that while all-Indi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... IT set up, they would not have IT related problem for implementing e-Way Bill System. He added that those transporters who were already registered for e-Way Bill System could be migrated to the new server. He suggested that e-Way Bill System for inter-State movement of goods should be introduced from I February, 2018 only after beta testing, etc. He suggested that the Central Government should remain in touch with the State Governments on the status of beta testing so that there was certainty regarding implementation of e-Way Bill System from the due date. He further stated that his State would need a longer time frame to implement e-Way Bill System for intra-State movement of goods and suggested that it should be done from 1 June, 2018. 6.7. The Secretary stated that sufficient trial period was being provided both for trade and Tax Department so that amendments, if any required, could be carried out before implementing the e-Way Bill System for inter-State movement of goods from 1 February, 2018. He added that the States already having e-Way Bill System, could use the enabling provision and continue to use the same until the Central server and the software were fully ready. He ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ovided for intra-State e-Way Bill System. 6.10. The Hon'ble Minister from Kerala stated that the delay in implementation of e-Way Bill System had led to severe leakage of revenue and in his State, approximately 80% of consumer goods were coming from other States without payment of IGST. He accepted the proposal on the table and in addition, made two more points. The first point was that it was decided earlier that States could implement thee-Way Bill System for inter-State movement of goods and that the Central Government would issue a notification to this effect. He observed that no such notification had been issued by the Central Government till date and requested the Central Government to issue such a notification and validate the action of the State Governments. The second point was that movement of gold should also be brought under thee-Way Bill System as lack of an e-Way Bill System for gold was only helping the movement of smuggled gold. He stated that there was major revenue leakage on this account and in his State, the intelligence wing had booked 10 major cases of movement of gold and jewellery of over 100 kg being transported from other States without any document ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... so suggested that the e-Way Bill forms should also have a provision to give train number and air cargo number as lot of goods also moved through trains and airlines. He stated that his State would be ready for introduction of e-Way Bill System for intra-State movement of goods by 1 February, 2018 but also agreed to the proposal to commence it from 1 June, 2018. 6.12. The Hon'ble Minister from Haryana welcomed the proposal on the table. He stated that his State was one of the 14 which did not have an e-Way Bill System and its introduction would help curb tax evasion. He suggested that the system of e-Way Bill should be started simultaneously for both inter-State and intra-State movement from 1 February, 2018 as any artificial distinction between the two could lead to influencing by local lobbies. He added that there would be reservation with regard to e-Way Bill System irrespective of the date on which it was decided to be implemented and extension of date could be considered by the Council at a later stage instead of giving the States an option to decide by themselves the date for introduction of e-Way Bill for intra-State movement of goods. He suggested that all preparation ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te supply. 6.15. Shri A.B. Pandey, Chairman, GSTN, stated that if a choice was given to the States regarding the date for introduction of e-Way Bill System for intra-State movement of goods and if all States decided to implement it from an earlier date, then the system of NIC might not be able to take the load as full testing had not be done till date. He stated that according to their estimates, a total of about 30 lakh e-Way bills were likely to be generated daily for both inter-State and intra-State movement of goods and in the absence of full testing of software, it was desirable to have a phased implementation. The Hon'ble Chairperson stated that many States would implement e-Way Bill System for intra-State movement of goods at a later date, and therefore, phasing out would be in-built. Shri Naveen K. Chaudhary, Secretary (Finance), Jammu Kashmir stated that the suggested timeline for implementation of e-Way Bill System was acceptable and advised that NIC should ensure that no technical glitches were faced by the users. Shri Tarun Kapoor, ACS, Himachal Pradesh, stated that they have an e-Way Bill System for six items. He supported the proposal to have e-Way Bill Syste ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... risdictional officer for processing the refund claim manually, after which a single order would be passed. He stated that some officers in the field had raised a doubt that as per the law, refund could be given only if the inward and outward supplies were matched and tax was paid on the supply. He stated that as presently no matching was possible, it was proposed to take an undertaking as part of refund application itself that the amount of refund would be paid back to the Government in case it was subsequently found that the tax had not been paid on the supply as required under Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act/SGST Act or the inward and the outward supply involving the refund claim did not match (requirements under Sections 41 and 42 of CGST/SGST Act). He stated that it was proposed to allow following refunds (both provisional and final) without matching and without excluding the amount of provisionally accepted input tax credit: (i) Unutilised input tax credit in case of zero rated supplies (exports and supplies to SEZs) of goods or services or both; (ii) Unutilised input tax credit in case of inverted duty structure in case of goods (including supply of goods to merchant exporte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and without excluding the amount of provisionally accepted input tax credit: (i) Unutilised input tax credit in case of zero rated supplies (exports and supplies to SEZs) of goods or services or both; (ii) Unutilised input tax credit in case of inverted duty structure in case of goods (including supply of goods to merchant exporters); (iii) IGST paid on zero rated supplies (exports and supplies to SEZs) of goods or services or both; (iv) lGST or CGST/SGST/UTGST paid on deemed export of goods. b. Such refund shall be given subject to furnishing an undertaking as part of refund application itself that the amount of refund would be paid back to the Government in case it is found subsequently that the requirement of Section 16(2)(c) read with Section 42 (2) of the CGST/SGST Act have not been complied with in respect of the amount refunded. 10. The Hon'ble Chairperson stated that the next meeting of the Council shall be held sometime in early January, 2018 and the date for the same shall be communicated in due course. 11. The Meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair. - Circular - Trade Notice - Public Notice - Instructions - Office orders Tax Management In ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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