GST Council meet underway: Here are the benefits taxpayers can expect

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has been meeting today for the 27th time. The meeting that that has been taking place via video conferencing might make filing of returns easy for the taxpayers. The GST Council meet would be compromised of state finance ministers. The GST council would also be likely to take call over the proposal of converting GSTN into a government company.

A decision on return simplification could be on the cards with the Sushil Modi-led Group of Ministers putting before the Council the three models of new return form for discussion, an official earlier told the news agency PTI. 

The meeting as mentioned above, would be held via video conferencing as the doctors have advised the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to stay in isolation to avoid contracting infection. 

Earlier in March, the GST council had met in March, where it discussed two models of GST returns and suggested that the GoM would work further simplification.

The official further told that the amendment to the law would also be taken up once the Council clears the new GST return format. One of the models presented before the Council was that provisional credit should not be granted unless the taxpayers file returns and pay taxes.

The second model stated that provisional credit could be granted to a taxpayer, but returns have to be filed within 3-4 months and taxes have to be paid or else the credit amount would be reversed.

After consulting the stakeholders, the GoM earlier this month worked out a third model for return filing as per which credit could be extended once the invoice uploaded by the supplier is verified by the purchaser on the GSTN portal. 

FM Arun Jaitley last month had asked Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to "examine the possibility" of converting GSTN into a majority government company or a 100 per cent government company. GSTN provides the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime.

Currently, five private financial institutions -- HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd -- hold 51 per cent stake in GSTN, which was incorporated on March 28, 2013, in the erstwhile UPA regime.

The remaining 49 per cent stake is with the Centre and States.