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The GST Council will meet on December 21 in Jaisalmer, in which the much-awaited decision on exemption or lower GST rate on health and life insurance is likely to be taken. The council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising her state counterparts, may also take up some rate rationalisation exercise and reduce tax rates on a host of common man items from 12 per cent to 5 per cent slab as per the recommendations of a panel of state ministers. "The 55th meeting of the GST Council will be held on 21 December 2024 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan," the GST Council said in a post on X. The council, in its previous meeting on September 9, had tasked the GoM to finalise the report on GST levy on insurance by October-end. Following that, the group of ministers (GoM) on health and life insurance GST last month met and broadly agreed on exempting insurance premiums paid for term life insurance policies, and senior citizens' health insurance from GST. Also, GST on premium
The GST Council on Saturday agreed to decriminalise certain offences and doubled the threshold for launching prosecution to Rs 2 crore, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said. The Council could decide on only 8 out of the 15 agenda items due to paucity of time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, adding the items not considered included one pertaining to setting up of appellate tribunals for GST. The issue of mechanism to curb tax evasion in pan masala and gutkha businesses could also not be taken up. Malhotra said GST on online gaming and casinos was not discussed as the report of a Group of Ministers (GoM), chaired by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on the issue submitted its report only a couple of days back. The report of the GoM was not even circulated to GST Council members, he added. He further said the Council agreed to raise the threshold of launching prosecution to Rs 2 crore from the present Rs 1 crore. Also, the GST on husk of pulses was reduced to nil f
SLUG: GST and INDIA INC STRAP: Auto likely to face the brunt of 28 per cent tax bracket plus cess.... Arnab Dutta, Sheetal Agarwal, Aneesh Phadnis & Shubham Parasher India moved a step ahead in adopting its biggest tax reform since Independence, namely, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), with the GST Council fixing rates of 1,211 items today. The good news is that consumer goods and life-saving drugs are likely to get cheaper, while auto may face the brunt of higher tax incidence as cars are likely to fall in the 28 per cent tax bracket plus cess. Of the 1,211 items, 7 per cent are on the exempt list, 14 per cent will be taxed at 5 per cent, 17 per cent will be taxed at 12 per cent, 19 per cent will be taxed at 28 per cent and the rest will be taxed at 18 per cent. Hair oil, toothpaste and soap makers have reason to cheer since these products will be taxed at 18 per cent, lower than the present effective rate of 23-24 per cent. "The announcement of 18 percent GST rate for soaps,