GST council decides to have single rate of 28 per cent on state-run and state-authorised lotteries

The GST council on Wednesday decided to have a single rate of 28 per cent GST on both state-run and state-authorised lotteries and also extended the deadline for filing GSTR 9 for 2017-18 to January 31 next year.

"Today the GST council, in its 38th meeting, took decisions related to GST rates. It has been decided to levy a single rate of GST 28 per cent on both state-run and state-authorised lotteries. Earlier, for the state-run lottery, the rate was 12 while for state-authorised lottery it was 28 per cent. The new rate will be effective from March 1, 2020," Revenue Secretary AB Pandey told reporters here.

The council voted for the first time since it was constituted to decide on a single rate on lotteries.

Commenting on deviating from tradition of the council taking decisions without a vote, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Every attempt was made to keep the tradition alive but eventually council was reminded that tradition was not part of the rulebook. It was not imposed by the council or me but on a request from a member".

Pandey said the council also waived the late fee of all taxpayers in respect of all pending form GSTR-1 from July 2017 to November 2019 if they are filed by January 10, 2020.

An official release said the GST council decided to exempt upfront amount payable for long- term lease of industrial/financial infrastructure plots by an entity having 20 per cent or more ownership of central or state government.

At present, the exemption is available to an entity having 50 per cent or more ownership of central or state government. The decision shall become effective from January 1, 2020.

"The Council also considered the rate of GST rate on woven and non-woven bags and sacks of polyethylene or polypropylene strips or the like, whether or not laminated, of a kind used for the packing of goods in view of the requests received. It recommended raising the GST to a uniform rate of 18 per cent on all such bags including Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC)," the release said.

The release said that the change shall become effective from January 1 next year.

It said that the due date for annual return in Form GSTR-9 and reconciliation statement in Form GSTR-9C for 2017-18 has been extended to January 31, 2020.

Pandey said that a Standard Operating Procedure for tax officers would be issued in respect of action to be taken in cases of non-filling of Form GSTR 3B returns.

The due date of filing GST returns for the month of November 2019 was extended in respect of a few North Eastern States.