The 32 GST council meeting concluded on 10 Jan 2019 provides major relief to MSME’s! Finance Minister Arun Jately announces hereby the following reliefs to the GST taxpayers–
| Category | Earlier Exemption | New Exemption |
| Normal Category States | Rs 20 lakhs | Rs 40 Lakhs |
| Northeastern States (except J&K) | Rs 10 lakhs | Rs 20 lakhs |
A reason to celebrate for all Micro Small And Medium Enterprises!!
“The states will have the discretion to opt up or opt down the exemption limit. They will have to inform the Secretariat within a week if they wish changes in their exemption limit,” Said the Finance Minister.
Composition Scheme :
Limit Increased– From 1 April 2019, the specified composition limit will be increased to Rs 1.5 crore in response to the existing limit set of Rs 1 Cr.
A good relief for composite taxpayers and those looking forward to enrolling in the composition levy.
No more quarterly returns –Composition taxpayers will no longer be required to file returns every quarter. Although the quarterly liability to pay tax remains unchanged!!.
Services now covered– Rendering mixed supplies with annual turnover up to Rs 50 Lakhs will now be eligible for the composition levy. And the GST rate for such service providers will be 6 percent.
Mr. Jately said “Service providers and those who render mixed supplies of goods and services with a turnover up to Rs 50 lakh in the informal sector will be entitled to the composition scheme under the GST regime. The composition rate for services has been put at 6 percent,” adding to his words that “This 6 percent is lower than the service tax paid by service providers with turnover up to Rs 50 lakh,”
Calamity Cess :
The 32nd GST Council also gave the State of Kerala special power to levy 1 percent disaster on all its intrastate supplies for the next two years.
” There is a provision in the GST Act that allows the Council to stop coping with natural disasters, ” was said at the council meeting.
Real estate and Taxation on Lottery :
No conclusive announcement was made in the fields of real estate and uniformity in lottery taxation through the GST Council meeting held on 10 January 2019, Thursday. There was a difference of opinion among those entrusted with the decision and therefore a seven-member bench was concluded to examine the matter in depth.
Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jately said in this regard, ” A seven-member GoM has been formed to look at the GST on real estate. Another GoM with representation from lottery developing and selling states will be formed for uniform taxation of the lottery or other issues arising from the lottery. These ministerial panels will make their recommendations at the next meeting, ”
To conclude the GST Council meeting held today, we can quote the words of our Finance Minister, who explains more clearly the reasons behind the decisions taken at this meeting.
” Each of these decisions today is intended to help small and medium-sized enterprises, ” Arun Jaitley said at the GST Council meeting held on 10 January 2019.
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