The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was convened last week for the first time in nearly nine months
To help students, hostel accommodation costing up to ₹20,000 a month has been exempted from GST altogether,
along with railway services availed by passengers.
A uniform 12% rate has been approved for packing cartons, milk cans, and solar cookers, doing away with confusing classification differences based on material or technologies.
The Council also opted to waive interest and penalty on tax dues for the first three years of GST, provided they are paid by March 2025.
Moreover, it lowered the stipulated pre-deposits for filing appeals, including those that will be filed with the upcoming GST Appellate Tribunals,
and approved a new form for taxpayers to correct errors or oversights in previous returns.
The Council also signed off on ending the anti-profiteering clause that required firms to pass on any tax cut gains to customers, and mandating biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for all GST registrations
The Council also plans to take stock of the 2021 plan to rationalise the multiple-rate GST structure, that has been in cold storage for a while, when it meets next.
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