Changes in GST Rates for Goods and IGST Rates on Imports of Goods

As per discussions held in the 22^nd GST Council Meeting held under Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 6^th October, 2017, the following changes in GST rates for certain Goods and IGST rates on Imports of specified Goods have been recommended.

A.           GST RATE FOR FOLLOWING GOODS HAVE BEEN REDUCED

S. No.	Chapter/ Heading/ Sub-heading/ Tariff item	Description	Present GST Rate	GST Rate Recommended by the GST Council
1.	0804	Mangoes sliced dried	12%	5%
2.	1905 or 2106	Khakra and plain chapati / roti	12%	5%
3.	19 or 21	Food preparations put up in unit containers and intended for free distribution to economically weaker sections of the society under a programme duly approved by the Central Government or any State Government, subject to specified conditions [Foot note 1]	18%	5 %
4.	21	Namkeens other than those put up in unit container and, - (a) bearing a registered brand name; or (b) bearing a brand name on which an actionable claim or enforceable right in a court of law is available [other than those where any actionable claim or enforceable right in respect of such brand name has been foregone voluntarily [Foot note 2]	12%	5%
5.	2710	Imposing GST only on the net quantity of superior kerosene oil [SKO] retained for the manufacture of Linear Alkyl Benzene [LAB]	18%	18% [Clarification to be issued]
6.	30	Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy medicines, other than those bearing a brand name [Foot note 3]	12%	5%
7.	3213	Poster Colour	28%	18%
8.	3407	Modelling paste for children amusement	28%	18%
9.	3915	Plastic waste, parings or scrap	18%	5%
10.	4004 00 00	Rubber  waste, parings or scrap	18%	5%
11.	4017 00 20	Hard Rubber waste or scrap	28%	5%
12.	4707	Paper waste or scrap	12%	5%
13.	4907	Duty credit scrips	5%	Nil
14.	5401	Sewing thread of manmade filaments, whether or not put up for retail sale	18%	12%
15.	5402, 5404, 5406	All synthetic filament yarn, such as nylon, polyester, acrylic, etc.	18%	12%
16.	5403, 5405, 5406	All artificial filament yarn, such as viscose rayon, Cuprammonium,	18%	12%
17.	5508	Sewing thread of manmade staple fibres	18%	12%
18.	5509, 5510, 5511	Yarn of manmade staple fibres	18%	12%
19.	5605	Real Zari	12%	5%
20.	6802	All goods falling under heading 6802 [other than those of marble and granite or those which attract 12% GST]	28%	18%
21.	7001	Cullet or other waste or scrap of Glass	18%	5%
22.	8305	Fittings for loose-leaf binders or files, letter clips, letter corners, paper clips, indexing tags and similar office articles, of base metal; staples in strips (for example, for offices, upholstery, packaging), of base metal	28%	18%
23.	8483	Plain Shaft Bearing 8483	28%	18%
24.	84	Parts suitable for use solely or principally with fixed Speed Diesel Engines of power not exceeding 15HP	28%	18%
25.	84 or 85	Parts suitable for use solely or principally with power driven pumps primarily designed for handling water, namely, centrifugal pumps (horizontal and vertical), deep tube-well turbine pumps, submersible pumps, axial flow and mixed flow vertical pumps	28%	18%
26.	84 or 85	E-Waste	28%/18%	5%
27.	Any Chapter	Biomass briquettes	18%	5%

Foot note;

1.       Reduction in GST rate against S. No 4 above is subject to following condition:

a.       If the supplier of such food preparations produces a certificate from an officer not below the rank of the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India or not below the rank of the Deputy Secretary to the State Government concerned to the effect that such food preparations have been distributed free to the economically weaker sections of the society under a programme duly approved by the Central Government or the State Government concerned, within five months from the date of supply of such goods or within such further period as the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central tax or jurisdictional Commissioner of State tax, as the case maybe, may allow in this regard.

2.       For S. No.5 above, the phrase registered brand name means:

a.       A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 shall be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST, irrespective of whether or not such brand is subsequently deregistered.

b.      A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under the Copyright Act, 1957 shall also be treated as a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST.

c.       A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under any law for the time being in force in any other country shall also be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST.

3.       For S. No. 7 above, the phrase “brand name” is defined as:

"brand name" or "trade name" means a brand name or a trade name, whether registered or not, that is to say, a name or a mark, such as symbol, monogram, label, signature or invented word or writing which is used in relation to such specified goods for the purpose of indicating, or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between such specified goods and some person using such name or mark with or without any indication of the identity of that person.

B.     IGST EXEMPTION ON IMPORTS OF GOODS:

S. No	Description	Present applicable IGST rate	Recommended IGST rate
1	IGST exemption on imports of rigs imported for oil / gas exploration and production projects under lease, subject to the following conditions that: (i)       Integrated tax leviable under section 5(1) of the IGST Act, 2017 on supply of service covered by item 1(b) or 5(f) of Schedule II of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017; (ii)     The rig is not sold without the prior permission of the Commissioner of Customs of the port of importation; (iii)   to re-export the goods within 3 months from the expiry of the period for which they were supplied under a transaction covered by item 1(b) or 5(f) of Schedule II of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 out of India; (iv)   to pay on demand an amount equal to the integrated tax payable on the said goods but for the exemption under this notification in the event of violation of any of the above conditions and applicable interest.	5%	Nil
2	Exemption from IGST on imports of medicines supplied free by international agencies like UNICEF, WHO, Red Cross etc.	12%/5%	Nil
3	A.    Exemption from IGST on imports of bona fide gifts upto CIF value limit of Rs. 5000 imported through post or air.	28%	Nil

Facility of furnishing Letter of Undertaking extended to more exporters

Small exporters have brought to the notice of the Government the difficulties in furnishing bond with requisite bank guarantee. To facilitate exports under GST, it has been decided that the facility of furnishing Letter of Undertaking, in place of a bond, for exporting goods or services or both shall be allowed to exporters and no bank guarantee will be required.The relevant notification for this shall be issued in due course. 

The issue of cash blockage is expected to be partially addressed by this measure. More measures are under consideration.

Notification regarding GST rate for branded cereal, pulses and flour

The GST Council, in its 21st meeting held on 9th September, 2017 at Hyderabad has, interalia, recommended that for 5% GST rate on cereals, pulses and flours etc. put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name: 

• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 shall be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST, irrespective of whether or not such brand is subsequently deregistered. 
• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under the Copyright Act, 1957 shall also be treated as a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. 
• A brand registered as on 15.05.2017 under any law for the time being in force in any other country shall also be deemed to be a registered brand for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. d) A mark or name in respect of which actionable claim is available shall be deemed to be a registered brand name for the purposes of levy of 5% GST. 

Notifications giving effect to the Council’s recommendations relating to changes in GST rates on goods and conditions appended thereto are proposed to be issued on 22nd September, 2017. 

Regarding aforesaid recommendations of the Council, these notifications, interalia, provide that 5% GST will apply if on brand name [as defined in the notification] an actionable claim or enforceable right in court of law is available. In this context, these notifications also provide that this 5% GST will, however, not apply if the person concerned voluntarily foregoes any actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name, subject to the conditions that he: 

• files an affidavit to the effect that he is voluntarily foregoing his actionable claim or enforceable right on such brand name with the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Tax or State Tax, or the jurisdictional officer of Union Territory Tax, as the case may be, and
• prints in indelible ink, both in English and local language on each such unit container, that in respect of brand name printed on the unit containers he has voluntarily foregone his actionable claim or enforceable right.

Voluntary Reporting of Estimated Current Income and Advance Tax Liability

A taxpayer who is liable to discharge part of its tax liability by way of advance tax has to bear additional burden of interest for default of advance tax, in case total advance tax paid for the year falls short of the assessed tax by ten percent or more. This interest is levied as per the provisions of section 234B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”). Such taxpayers are further liable to pay interest for deferment of advance tax, in case any quarterly instalment of advance tax paid falls short of the prescribed percentage of total advance tax paid. This interest is levied in accordance with the provisions of section 234C of the Act.

It is of utmost importance for such taxpayers to arrive at a reasonably accurate estimate of their current income and advance tax liability, so that the additional burden on account of interest for default/deferment of advance tax can be avoided.

Needless to say, a continuous flow of tax revenues throughout the year is critical for the Government so as to meet various budgetary allocations such as welfare schemes, infrastructure development, defence expenditure etc. A reliable and advance estimate of tax revenues for the year would also provide much needed perspective for planning and prioritizing the Government expenditure.

In order to address these concerns, it is proposed to create a mechanism for self-reporting of estimates of current income, tax payments and advance tax liability by certain taxpayers (companies and tax audit cases) on voluntary compliance basis. The proposed reporting mechanism is sought to be created by way of inserting a new Rule 39A and Form No. 28AA in the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The proposed draft notification has been placed in public domain on the website of Income Tax Department (www.incometaxindia.gov.in) for inviting comments from stakeholders and general public.The comments and suggestions on the draft Rule and Form may be sent electronically at the email address dirtpl4@nic.in by 29th September, 2017.

Clarification about Transition Credit

There are lot of speculations in the media about the credit of Rs. 65,000 crore claimed by taxpayers in respect of Central Excise and Service Tax in the pre-GST period. Some people are under the impression that because of Rs. 65,000 crore claimed as transition credit, the income of Government this month has plummeted.

Firstly, Rs. 65,000 crore is the credit claimed by the taxpayers in the TRANS 1 form as their balance of credit. It does not mean that they would have used all of this credit for payment of their output tax liability for the month of July 2017.

It may be clarified that this is far from the truth. Secondly, it may be clarified that an amount of Rs. 95,000 crore, which was received in the month of August 2017 for GST, is the amount actually paid in cash other than availing credit.

Thirdly, this figure of transition credit claimed is also not incredibly high, since Rs.1.27 lakh crore of credit of Central Excise and Service Tax was lying as closing balance as on 30th June, 2017 as per department’s record. This includes credit in Central Excise as well as Service Tax. Of course, some of these credits may not be admissible under GST regime, for example the credits, which are blocked under Section 17 (5) of CGST Act or which are not covered under the definition of GST. Also, some of the credits, which are claimed in TRANS 1 form may be under litigation and, therefore, it may not be available to the assesse to carry forward or utilisation. It is from this angle that CBEC is examining the transition credits, which are claimed by the assessees in TRANS I form in certain cases.

It is possible that some assessees would have committed mistake in filing TRANS 1 form of admissible credit. It has, therefore, been decided to provide facility for revision of TRANS 1 by the GST Council. This facility would be available by middle of October 2017 and assessees are requested to revise their TRANS 1 form before 31st October, 2017, so that they themselves can remove the error.