GST Council approves 5 rules; rates to be discussed in May

The all-powerful GST Council on Friday approved five amended rules for the Goods and Services Tax regime and gave "tentative" nod to the remaining four as the central government sprints to meet the July 1 rollout target.

The final nod to the four rules as also fixation of GST rates for major commodities and services will be done in the next meeting in Srinagar on May 18-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Headed by Jaitley and comprising representatives of all states, the Council gave final approval for changes in rules for filing tax returns in the new regime, registration of entities, payment of GST, invoicing and refunds to make them compatible with GST laws approved by the Lok Sabha this week.

The remaining rules on how input tax credit is to be calculated and claimed, valuation of supply of goods and services, method for intimation for opting for composition levy and transitional rules were given "tentative" approval, Jaitley told reporters after the 13th meeting of the Council.

He said the five rules which received final nod from the Council were originally cleared at the September 30, 2016 meeting but had to undergo minor changes following stakeholder comments and bringing them in line with model GST law.

In the registration rules, the changes approved include certification of registration being digitally signed by proper officer and procedure for grant or cancellation of unique identify number.

The changes in rules for filing returns says that certain category of persons need not file annual returns.

Also, the requirement of registration of debit/credit card for payment of tax with the GST-Network has been omitted from the payment rules.

Refund rules now provide for new norm for refund of advance tax deposited by non-resident taxable person, while the changed invoice rules provide for consolidated tax invoice on daily basis instead of individual invoices for supplies less than Rs 200.

"GST input tax rules, valuation rules, transitional provisions, composition... Those rules have been tentatively approved by the GST Council," Jaitley said.

He said the Council has decided that the final corrected drafts be put up for industry to make suggestions.