The 49th meeting of the GST Council is scheduled to be held in the national capital on February 18. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will preside over the summit, news agency ANI reported. Vivek Johri, Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), was cited in the report saying the agenda for the upcoming meeting is not likely to include the much-anticipated report by the Group of Ministers on online gambling and the GST appellate tribunal. On December 17, 2022, the GST Council held its 48th meeting through video conference. The GST Council has suggested decriminalising three separate offences, including tampering with tangible evidence, in their last meeting. They deal with blocking or preventing an officer from carrying out his responsibilities, purposeful tampering with tangible evidence, and withholding information. The threshold amount of tax for bringing legal action for any criminal offence described by the GST laws has been raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, which was the other significant decision made during the meeting. However, crimes like false invoicing would not fall under this category. Additionally, the GST rate on the husk and blades of pulses has been cut from 5 percent to nil. For the purpose of blending ethanol, ethyl alcohol is exempt from GST. It was previously taxed at 18 percent. Certain commodities are subject to a cess, with the money collected going into the compensation fund for the purpose of paying out compensation to states. Compensation to states is being paid out of the compensation fund with effect from July 1, 2017.

Money Control