53rd GST Council Meet Tomorrow: What's The Key Expectations?

About Eight and a half months after its previous meeting, the Center has decided to call a meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on June 22, 2024.

Although the meeting's agenda is yet unknown, state finance ministers should bring forth ideas for an indirect tax system that might be included in the Union Budget, which is anticipated to be unveiled next month.

Here are the key expectations:

Set monetary threshold limits for GST cases

It is probable that the GST Council would establish financial thresholds for matters that the High Courts, the Supreme Court, and the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) will consider. The Law Committee's recommendation to set monetary limits of Rs. 20 lakh for matters handled by the GSTAT, Rs. 1 crore for High Courts, and Rs. 2 crore for the Supreme Court may be approved by the Council.

GST Rate Rationalisation

The aim of rate rationalisation is to simplify the GST rate structure and not to garner additional revenues for the government. One of the stated objectives of the group of ministers (GoM) is to review current tax slabs and recommend changes which will lead to higher revenue. For this purpose of rate rationalisation the Council had set up a group of ministers (GoM) under former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Relief To Online Gaming Industry On Retrospective Tax Demands

Online gaming companies that are facing enormous tax demands may see significant relief from the proposed modification to the GST Act. The GST Council is debating a change to the GST Act that would address online gambling operators' retrospective taxation concerns.

Likely To Resolve Inverted Duty Structure

Businesses have difficulties with cash flow as a result of the inverted tariff structure. They accrue Input Tax Credits (ITCs) that are unusable due to the intricacies and legal disputes pertaining to refunds of the inverted duty structure (IDS).