GST Council Meet: Decriminalise Certain Offences, Lower Tax Rate On Husk Of Pulses. Check Key Decisions Here

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took certain key decisions on Saturday.

New Delhi: The Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took certain key decisions on Saturday. The previous meeting of the GST council was held in Chandigarh between June 28 and 29 this year. “Decriminalising certain offences including obstructing any officer from discharging his duties, threshold limit of tax amount for launching prosecution in any criminal offence under GST laws raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore for all offences except fake invoices,” Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said in a statement.

No new taxes have been imposed, Nirmala Sitharaman said during the GST Council’s 48th meeting.

• The GST Council recommended decriminalising three kinds of offences –
  “obstruction or preventing any officer in the discharge of his duties; deliberate tempering of material evidence; and failure to supply the information.”
• “Obstructing any officer from discharging his duties, threshold limit of tax amount for launching prosecution in any criminal offence under GST laws raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore for all offences except fake invoices,” the revenue secretary stated.
• Tax rate on husk of pulses reduced to nil from 5 per cent, the revenue secretary said.
• During the GST Council’s meeting, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We completed 8 of the agenda points. There were two GoM issues which needed to be discussed but couldn’t be taken up, which were related to capacity-based taxation on tobacco and gutkha, the other relating to setting up of a (GST) tribunal.”