GST Council meet: 83 items to get cheaper, filing of returns may be eased

To ease the flow of funds for both the Centre and states, the Council also decided to distribute Integrated GST (IGST) of Rs 340 billion equally between them

Barely a fortnight to Budget 2018, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday cut rates on 83 employment-oriented goods and services. This will hit the exchequer by Rs 10-12 billion annually.

 
The Council is moving towards one return form, though a final decision in this regard is yet to be taken. The government also got the enabling power to have a single registration for services, a key demand of many players including those in the banking sector. This may be exercised later for specific services.
 
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rates