Goods and Services Tax Council: Composition, Function, Members of GST Council

GST Council

GST Council is a constitutional body that is responsible to make recommendations to the Union or State government regarding issues involving the Goods and Service Tax.GST Council plays a crucial role in taking decisions regarding the Goods and Service Tax in India.

The vision of the GST Council is to uphold the greatest norms of cooperative federalism in the Council’s operations. The GST Council is the first constitutional federal body with the authority to make all significant GST decisions.

History of the GST Council

The 101st Amendment Act of 2016 brought a new tax regime (Goods and Services Tax) to the country. An efficient and smooth administration of GST requires coordination and corporation between the states and the center. To ease the consolation process, the amendments provided for the formation of a GST Council.

Article 279-A was inserted in the Indian Constitution, and it empowered the President to form a GST Council. So, the President constituted the GST Council in 2016, and the secretariat of the Council is now located in New Delhi.

Composition of GST Council

The council is a joint forum of the center and states. The chairperson of the GST Council is Union Finance Minister.

• The other members of the GST Council include the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States.
• The Council members from the states have to choose one member amongst themselves who would become the Vice-Chairperson of the GST Council. They have also the power to decide his term.
• GST Council has 33 members, out of which 2 members are from the center and 31 members are from 3 Union territories and 28 states with legislation.
• Chairperson of the CBEC (Central Board of Excise and Customs) as a permanent invitee (Non-Voting) to all the proceedings.

GST Council UPSC Notes

Functions of GST Council

The function of the GST Council is to make recommendations to the States and Unions on the following matter:

• The cesses, taxes, and surcharges levied by the States and Union and the local bodies which are under the Goods and Services Tax
• Any special rates for a certain period to raise additional resources during any natural disaster or calamity.
• Model GST laws, Principles of the levy, apportionment of Goods and Services Tax levied on supplies in the course of commerce or Inter-state trade under article 269A, and the principles that control the place of supply.
• The goods and services that may be exempted or subjected to the Goods and Services tax.
• The threshold limit of turnover below which the services and goods may be exempted from GST.
• The rates include the floor rates with the bands of Goods and Service Tax,
• Special provision with respect to the states– Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
• Additionally, the GST Council has the power to recommend the date on which the GST may be levied on petrol, high-speed diesel, petroleum crude, aviation turbine fuel, and natural gas.
• Furthermore, the GST Council has to recommend compensation to the states for the loss of revenue due to the introduction of GST for a period of 5 years. According to the recommendation, the parliament decided on the compensation.

GST Council 2023: 49th GST Council Meeting

The 49th GST council was chaired by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the state counterparts. At its 49th meeting, the GST council recommended changes to the GST Compensation, GST Appellate Tribunal, Special Composition Scheme for Certain Commodities, GST Rates, and the GoM Report on Capacity-Based Taxation, and Additional Trade Facilitation Measures.

Let’s discuss the highlights of the 49th GST Council meeting below.

• With some modifications, recommendations for establishing GST Appellate Tribunals have been adopted.
• For FY 2022-23 and thereafter, late fees under Section 47 for small taxpayers who file their GST Annual Return in Form GSTR 9 after the deadline have been rationalized.
• The entire Rs 16,982 crore GST Compensation Cess would be paid. The Center will release the money from their holdings and make up the difference from subsequent collections.
• Amnesty programs offering conditional waivers or reductions for overdue GST returns must be publicized.
• A unique composition method will be adopted for several industries, like Tobacco, Gutkha, PAN masala, etc.
• On an RCM basis, GST will be imposed on all commercial services rendered by the Court.
• The window of opportunity for submitting a request to revoke or cancel registration has been extended to 90 days from 30 days.

Short Notes on GST Council

The mission of the GST Council is to make the GST structure user-friendly, and which is information technology-driven. GST Council is constituted as per Article 279-A of the Indian Constitution.

• The GST Council Secretariat is located in New Delhi.
• The main goal of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for Goods and Services across India.
• Union Revenue Secretary is the ex-officio secretary of the GST Council.
• GST Council is responsible for dictating the tax exemption, tax rate, tax laws, and the due date of forms, keeping in mind the special rates, tax deadlines, and provisions.

How GST Council Takes Decisions?

The GST Council takes every decision at a meeting where a majority of not less than three-fourths of the votes of the present member and voting, as per the following conditions:

• While making a decision the Central Government of India has a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast.
• Also, the votes of the States Governments taken must have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast.

On the following grounds, any proceedings or acts of the GST Council will not become invalid

• Any deficit or vacancy in the constitution of the GST Council
• Any defect in the appointment of any member of the GST Council
• Any procedural irregularity of the GST Council does not affect the merits of the case

GST Council UPSC

GST Council is a part of the UPSC Syllabus under the Economics and Polity section. This topic can be covered with the help of both Polity Books and Economics Books. Candidates preparing for the upcoming UPSC Exam must prepare the GST Council UPSC topic along with the current affairs to be able to answer all the questions related to it.

The composition of the GST Council is a crucial part of the GST Council UPSC Notes.

GST Council UPSC Question

Apart from covering the books, candidates also need to focus on the current affairs section and glance through the UPSC Previous Year Question Paper to see the questions asked on this topic.

Question: The GST Council has fixed the threshold limit for exemption of tax to be

1. 20 Lac
2. 15 Lac
3. 25 lac
4. 12 Lac

Answer: Option A

UPSC Notes
Biosphere Reserves in India	Morley Minto Reforms
Ryotwari System	Mahalwari System
Human Development Index	Cabinet Mission Plan 1946
World Economic Forum	Government of India Act of 1919