Next GST Council Meeting: Date, agenda, top discusssions, tax, gaming, rationalisation, insurance an

Sandeep Pareek - Partner - Indirect Tax

54th GST Council Meeting Agenda: Experts say the 54th GST Council meeting is expected to decide to remove the 18 per cent GST levied on term life insurance premiums. This decision, if implemented, would provide much-needed relief to insurance customers who have been burdened by the additional tax.

54th GST Council Meeting Date: The GST Council, comprising finance ministers of Centre and states, is the apex decision making body with regard to Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was rolled out on July 1, 2017. (Pic- Nirmala Sitharaman/X)

54th GST Council Meeting Date, 54th GST Council Meeting Agenda: The 54th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2024. "The 54th Meeting of GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi," the Council said in a post on X in August.
The 53rd GST Council meeting, under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, was held on June 22 in New Delhi.

The GST Council, comprising finance ministers of Centre and states, is the apex decision making body with regard to Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was rolled out on July 1, 2017.

54th GST Council Meeting Agenda
Discussions in the major event i.e. the 54th GST Council meeting scheduled next week will focus on rate rationalization, relief for health insurance premiums, and clarifying taxes across various segments. The council may also consider the tax implications for online gaming in the upcoming GST council meeting headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

54th GST Council Meeting 2024 Expectations
Meanwhile, experts say the 54th GST Council meeting is expected to make a decision on removing the 18 per cent GST levied on term life insurance premiums. This decision, if implemented, would provide much-needed relief to insurance customers who have been burdened by the additional tax.
Analysts believe that 18per cent GST levied on life and health insurance premiums has been a contentious issue for several years, with various stakeholders calling for its removal.
Sandeep Pareek, Partner, Indirect Tax, BDO India, said, “Multiple stakeholders, including sitting ministers, have requested for exempting GST on term insurance as well as health insurance. It is likely that the GST Council may favourably consider this demand of the industry, especially if the revenue loss, due to grant of such exemption, is not major. However, to allow the full effect of exemption from GST to be passed on to the public at large, the insurance companies would also need to be allowed full input tax credit, without requiring a reversal of credit due to exemption from GST on term insurance.”
“One of the main reasons for exempting GST from term insurance products is to promote the term insurance plans, by making them more affordable to the masses,” he added.

53rd GST Council Meeting Outcome
In the 53rd GST Council meet in June, the council, among others, had recommended inserting a new Section 11A in CGST Act to give powers to the government, on the recommendations of the Council, to allow regularization of non-levy or short levy of GST, where tax was being short paid or not paid due to common trade practices.
The GST Council has also recommended amending Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017 to allow the three-month period for filing appeals before the Appellate Tribunal to start from a date to be notified by the Government in respect of appeal/ revision orders passed before the date of said notification. This will give sufficient time to the taxpayers to file appeal before the Appellate Tribunal in the pending cases.

Source:- ET Now News