The 54th GST Council met under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on 9th September 2024. The GST Council inter-alia made the following recommendations relating to measures for the facilitation of trade and measures for streamlining compliances in GST.
1. Procedure and conditions for waiver of interest or penalty or both, in respect of tax demands under section 73 of CGST Act, 2017 for FYs 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 as per section 128A of CGST Act, 2017:
The GST Council recommended insertion of rule 164 in CGST Rules, 2017, along with certain Forms, providing for the procedure and conditions for availment of benefit of waiver of interest or penalty or both, relating to tax demands under section 73 of CGST Act, pertaining to FYs 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, as per section 128A of CGST Act. The Council also recommended to notify under sub-section (1) of section 128A of CGST Act, 31.03.2025 as the date on or before which the payment of tax may be made by the registered persons, to avail the said benefit as per section 128A of the CGST Act. The Council also recommended the issuance of a circular to clarify various issues related to availment of waiver of interest or penalty or both as per section 128A of CGST Act. The Council also recommended that section 146 of Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, which provides for insertion of section 128A in CGST Act, 2017, may be notified with effect from 01.11.2024.
2. Providing a mechanism for implementation of newly inserted sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) in section 16 of CGST Act, 2017:
The GST Council recommended that section 118 and 150 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, which provides for insertion of sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) in section 16 of CGST Act, 2017 retrospectively with effect from 01.07.2017, may be notified at the earliest.
The Council also recommended that a special procedure for rectification of orders may be notified under section 148 of the CGST Act, to be followed by the class of taxable persons, against whom any order under section 73 or section 74 or section 107 or section 108 of the CGST Act has been issued confirming demand for wrong availment of input tax credit on account of contravention of provisions of sub-section (4) of section 16 of the CGST Act, but where such input tax credit is now available as per the provisions of sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) of section 16 of the CGST Act, and where appeal against the said order has not been filed. The Council also recommended issuance of a circular to clarify the procedure and various issues related to implementation of the said provisions of sub-section (5) and sub-section (6) of section 16 of CGST Act, 2017.
3. Amendments in rule 89 and rule 96 of CGST Rules, 2017 and to provide clarification in respect of IGST refunds on exports where benefit of concessional/ exemption notifications specified under rule 96(10) of CGST Rules, 2017 has been availed on the inputs:
The GST Council recommended to clarify that where the inputs were initially imported without payment of integrated tax and compensation cess by availing benefits under Notification No. 78/2017-Customs dated 13.10.2017 or Notification No. 79/2017-Customs dated 13.10.2017, but IGST and compensation cess on such imported inputs are subsequently paid, along with applicable interest, and the Bill of Entry in respect of the import of the said inputs is got reassessed through the jurisdictional Customs authorities to this effect, then the IGST paid on exports, refunded to the said exporter shall not be considered to be in contravention of provisions of sub-rule (10) of rule 96 of CGST Rules.
Further, considering the difficulty being faced by the exporters due to restriction in respect of refund on exports, imposed vide rule 96(10), rule 89(4A) & rule 89(4B) of CGST Rules, 2017, in cases where benefit of the specified concessional/ exemption notifications is availed on the inputs, the Council recommended to prospectively omit rule 96(10), rule 89(4A) & rule 89(4B) from CGST Rules, 2017. This will simplify and expedite the procedure for refunds in respect of such exports.
4. Issuance of clarifications through the circulars to remove ambiguity and legal disputes in certain issues:
The GST Council recommended issuance of circulars to provide clarity and to remove doubts and ambiguities arising in the following issues due to varied interpretations by the field formations:
- Clarification on the Place of Supply of advertising services provided by Indian advertising companies to foreign entities.
- Clarification regarding availability of Input Tax Credit on demo vehicles by the dealers of the vehicle manufacturers.
- Clarification on Place of Supply of data hosting services provided by service providers located in India to cloud computing service providers located outside India.
5. The Council also recommended amendments in some other provisions of CGST Rules, 2017.
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