54th GST Council Meeting On Sep 9: Experts Hope Rate Rationalisation,

54th GST Council Meeting 2024: The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on september 9. Experts feel that the meeting is expected to start a discussion on rate rationalisation, reducing tax slabs, besides removing duty inversion under GST.
“The 54th Meeting of GST Council will be held on 9th september 2024 at New Delhi,” the Council said in a post on X.The GST Council, comprising finance ministers of the Centre and states, is the apex decision-making body about Goods and services Tax (GST), which was rolled out on July 1, 2017.
54th GST Council Meeting Expectations

Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY India, underlined key expectations including a much-needed overhaul of GST rates, clear guidelines for foreign airlines and shipping companies on deemed import of services and resolution of long-standing disputes related to secondment.
Additionally, Agarwal hoped that the council is expected to address the GST implications of services provided by foreign branch offices to their indian headquarters. Insurance services

From July 2022, hospital room rent above Rs 5000 has come under the sales tax net. Stella Joseph, partner, Economic Laws Practice, highlighted that this is the first time hospitals will be charged under GST.
Joseph said that the insurance companies that provide health insurance to the insured are responsible for paying the fees for these rooms and GST to the hospitals.
However, whether insurance companies are eligible for such GST credit is a situation that is not clear. This is because, as per Section 17(5) of the CGST Act, the credit is limited to "medical services". Ideally, it should be clarified that insurance companies, being the person liable to pay the hospitals, are eligible for a credit of GST charged by hospitals on the hospital room rents,” Joseph underlined. As regards general insurance services provided to SEZ units, the position needs to be clarified as regards whether these can be considered as used for authorized operations and thus eligible for zero-rated treatment, Joseph added.
Such insurance services generally cover the Company’s employees and their relatives as well. However, “such services should be understood as for the benefit of employees, which are the core assets of the Company and hence should be seen as being used for authorized operations of the SEZ and thus eligible for zero-rating,” Joseph said.
After the previous Council meeting on june 23, Sitharaman said the next meeting of the GST Council the Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation under bihar Deputy chief minister Sumant Chaudhary, will give a presentation on the status of the work and aspects covered by the panel and work pending before the panel. "Whether the report is a draft or not, there will be a submission from the government ... and then the council will take up the amendment discussion in the next session," Sitharaman said.
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Balasahana Suresh

14/08/2024 05:36 PM