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  • ‘Gamers not to be taxed as gamblers,’ EPWA on 28% GST proposal on on-line video games

    Ahead of the fiftieth GST Council assembly, the E players Players Welfare Association (EPWA) has shared a report on the booming business of digital video games because the Group of Ministers on Tuesday is more likely to embody on-line gaming beneath the ambit of 28% GST slab. The GST Council has proposed to levy GST at 28% on complete cash deposited by the gamers to a gaming firm as towards the GST charge of 18% levied solely on the platform charge.

    Against this backdrop, the EPWA director and Tech Policy lawyer Shivani Jha instructed Mint, “We hope that the council of ministers will take equitable steps to ensure an increased GST doesn’t discourage players from playing altogether. Gamers must not be taxed the same way as Gamblers”.

    According to a report by the eSports physique, the Indian on-line gaming business is rising yearly at a charge of 30% and is likely one of the fastest-growing segments inside the media and leisure sector. As of May 2022, the nation accounted for 19.2% of worldwide sport downloads. The compound annual development charge of the gaming business is of approx 22%. In 2021 India recorded about 390 million on-line players.

    Effects of 28% GST on on-line gaming corporations:

    As per the EPWA survey, if policymakers improve the GST on on-line gaming, 61 out of 100 on-line players may discontinue taking part in on-line video games.

    “Online gaming is a profession for some of us, an increased GST is a deterrent. Our investments in buying equipment also don’t give us any input credit, and now the proposed regime seems harsh.” Zerah an expert gamer and CEO of Lxg instructed Mint.

    The proposed adjustments in tax charge will improve the monetary burden on the gaming business as they may change into liable to pay tax on these parts of the cash as nicely, which doesn’t in any method contribute to producing income for these corporations, the report added.

    EPWA beneficial that policymakers ought to chorus from charging GST on your entire cash and proceed

    charging GST solely on the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). The laws ought to acknowledge that cash gained from on-line gaming just isn’t a mere matter of likelihood however the gamer’s ability.

    Citing, the High Court of Karnataka in Gameskraft Technologies Private Limited v. Directorate General of Goods Services Tax Intelligence on 17 May 2023, the EPWA stated, “There ought to be a transparent distinction between on-line gaming on one hand and lottery, betting, playing and on line casino on the opposite. The legislature ought to chorus from placing them beneath a single umbrella.

    Karnataka High Court held that on-line rummy differs from betting, playing, lottery, and betting. Moreover, the prize pool cash is an actionable declare, and GST shall be charged solely on contest entry charges at 18%.

    The Gaming Industry believes that greater taxation might cut back the attractiveness of on-line skill-based gaming and might even influence Foreign Direct Investment inflows, present employment in addition to

    future employment alternatives, funding in advertising and marketing and Information Technology providers, and ancillary industries.

     

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    Updated: 11 Jul 2023, 01:41 PM IST

  • No GST on these meals objects when bought unfastened, clarifies FM Sitharaman

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday gave a listing of meals objects which can be exempted from GST, offered they’re bought unfastened and never pre-packed or pre-labeled.

    These embrace objects reminiscent of pulses/daal, wheat, rye, oats, maize, rice, aata/flour, suji/rawa, besan, puffed rice and curd/lassi.

    It should even be famous that objects specified beneath within the record, when bought unfastened, and never pre-packed or pre-labeled, is not going to appeal to any GST. (10/14) pic.twitter.com/NM69RbU13I

    — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) July 19, 2022

    The minister in a collection of tweets clarified the brand new charges on GST which got here into impact on Monday. The transfer comes after Lok Sabha proceedings have been adjourned on Tuesday amidst opposition protests over GST charges and value rise.

    Sitharaman defended the imposition of 5 per cent GST on meals articles in her tweets and mentioned that the choice was unanimous by the GST Council and all states have been current in GST Council assembly when this challenge was introduced by the Group of Ministers on Rate Rationalisation on June 28, 2022.

    She mentioned that this isn’t the primary time that such meals articles are being taxed. “States were collecting significant revenue from foodgrain in the pre-GST regime. Punjab alone collected more Rs 2,000 cr on food grain by way of purchase tax. UP collected Rs 700 cr.”

    Explaining the GST, she mentioned that when GST was rolled out, a GST fee of 5 per cent was made relevant on branded cereals, pulses, flour. Later this was amended to tax solely such objects which have been bought beneath registered model or model on which enforceable proper was not foregone by provider.

    However, she mentioned that quickly there was rampant misuse of this provision by reputed producers and model homeowners and progressively GST income from these things fell considerably.

    “This was RESENTED by suppliers and industry associations who were paying taxes on branded goods. They wrote to the Govt to impose GST uniformly on all packaged commodities to stop such misuse. This rampant evasion in tax was also observed by States,” Sitharaman mentioned in a tweet.

    The minister wrote that the Fitment Committee which consisted of officers from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat had additionally examined this challenge over a number of conferences and made its suggestions for altering the modalities to curb misuse.

    “It is in this context that the GST Council in its 47th meeting took the decision. With effect from July 18, 2022, only the modalities of imposition of GST on these goods was changed with no change in coverage of GST except 2-3 items,” she mentioned.

    “It has been prescribed that GST on these goods shall apply when supplied in “pre-packaged and labelled” commodities attracting the provisions of Legal Metrology Act,” the minister mentioned.

  • ‘Work needed to prune GST exemptions’: Revenue Secretary

    More exemptions will probably be withdrawn below the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, particularly within the companies sector, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj stated on Tuesday.

    The effort is to take away the “rough edges” in GST over the subsequent two-three years, he stated, addressing a CII interactive session.

    On rationalisation of GST charges, the Revenue Secretary stated a gaggle of ministers is trying into it. “We will have to wait for some time,” he stated. Exemptions nonetheless stay, a big quantity on the companies aspect, Bajaj stated, including that “work needs to be done to prune it”.

    Bajaj stated the 28 per cent slab in GST contributes 16 per cent to the gross GST income, whereas the foremost chunk of 65 per cent comes from the 18 per cent slab.

    The slabs of 5 per cent and 12 per cent contribute 10 per cent and eight per cent of the entire gross GST income.

    “In the 47th GST Council meeting we have taken away a lot of exemptions, but exemptions still remain. Work needs to be done on that. On the services side, we still have a large number of exemptions. The CBIC, GST Council, in collaboration with the trade and industry, will continue to work on that if we can prune this list of exemptions,” Bajaj stated.

    On representations that 5 per cent GST on non-ICU hospital rooms above Rs 5,000 is in opposition to inexpensive healthcare, Bajaj stated the proportion of rooms in hospitals which cost greater than Rs 5,000 is “minuscule”. “If I can spend Rs 5,000 on a room, I can pay Rs 250 for GST. I don’t see any reason for such a messaging that 5 per cent GST is hitting affordable healthcare,” he famous.

  • GST mop-up rises 13%: Revenues prime Rs 1-lakh crore regardless of fall in e-way payments

    Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) income collections in December (for gross sales in November) rose 13 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 1.29 lakh crore, knowledge launched by the Finance Ministry on Saturday confirmed.
    Anti-evasion measures coupled with a pickup within the providers sector contributed to the rise in GST revenues regardless of a drop in e-way payments in the course of the month.GST revenues in December are decrease than the Rs 1.31-lakh crore mop-up in November.
    They, are nonetheless, 26 per cent increased than pre-pandemic stage of December 2019 and marked the sixth month in a row of the collections crossing the Rs 1-lakh crore mark.
    MS Mani, accomplice, Deloitte India, mentioned the GST collections seem to have now established a constant development over the previous few months. “The GST collections are high despite a reduction in the e-way bill generation during the same period possibly a higher collection from the services sector accompanied by a continuing focus on implementation of technology based anti evasion measures.”
    State-wise breakup confirmed some states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan recorded a decline in GST collected within the areas in the course of the month.
    The common month-to-month gross GST assortment for the third quarter (October-December) of the continued monetary 12 months has been Rs 1.30 lakh crore towards the typical month-to-month assortment of Rs 1.10 lakh crore and Rs 1.15 lakh crore recorded within the first and second quarters, respectively.
    “Coupled with economic recovery, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers have been contributing to the enhanced GST. The improvement in revenue has also been due to various rate rationalisation measures undertaken by the Council to correct inverted duty structure,” the Finance Ministry mentioned.

    ExplainedMaintain constant trendDespite a 17 per cent fall in variety of e-way payments generated, the general GST collections maintained their constant development of staying above the Rs 1-lakh crore mark for the sixth straight month in December.

    There has been a 17 per cent discount within the variety of e-way payments generated in November 2021 at 6.1 crore as in comparison with 7.4 crore in October 2021 resulting from improved tax compliance and higher tax administration by the central and state tax authorities, it added.

    “The improvement in revenue has also been due to various rate rationalisation measures undertaken by the Council to correct inverted duty structure. It is expected that the positive trend in the revenues will continue in the last quarter as well,” it additional mentioned.
    Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar mentioned the GST collections for December are spectacular in absolute phrases in addition to the year-on-year development, given the sequential drop in GST e-way payments that had been seen in the course of the festive month of November.

    Out of the general Rs 1.29 lakh crore income, Central GST (CGST) — the tax levied on Intra State provides of each items and providers by the Central Government — is Rs 22,578 crore, State GST (SGST)— the tax levied on Intra State provides of each items and providers by the states — is Rs 28,658 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) — tax levied on all Inter-State provides of products and providers — is Rs 69,155 crore (together with Rs 37,527 crore collected on import of products), and cess is
    Rs 9,389 crore (together with Rs 614 crore collected on import of products).
    The authorities has settled Rs 25,568 crore to CGST and Rs 21,102 crore to SGST from IGST as common settlement. The complete income of Centre and the states in December after settlements is Rs 48,146 crore for CGST and Rs 49,760 crore for SGST.

  • In meet with FM, states push for GST compensation extension by 5 years

    With the Covid pandemic impacting states’ revenues, they’ve urged the Central authorities to think about rising its share in Centrally-sponsored schemes and an extension of compensation for an additional 5 years below the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. In their pre-Budget assembly with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, some states urged the Centre to look into direct money transfers for supporting financial restoration.
    Rajasthan Education Minister Subhash Garg stated extension of compensation cess window below GST until 2026-27 is a sound demand of states and the Centre ought to think about it. “Our most significant demand is that the Centre’s share in Centrally-sponsored schemes has gradually reduced and states’ share has increased. Earlier share would be 90-10 and now it is 50-50 or 60-40, our request is that it should go back to 90-10,” Garg stated.
    Under GST, states have been assured compensation on the compounded fee of 14 per cent from the bottom 12 months 2015-16 for losses arising attributable to implementation of the taxation regime for 5 years since its rollout. The compensation regime will finish in June.
    There has been a lack of income to states because of the GST system, the Centre has not made preparations to compensate the lack of income of about Rs 5,000 crore to the state within the coming 12 months, so the GST compensation grant needs to be continued for the subsequent 5 years after June 2022, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel stated. “Many states have asked for this. We have also asked to extend GST compensation. If it is not extended, the finances of many states will be in a bad shape,” Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated.

    ExplainedRevenue hit amid CovidStates have been assured compensation on the compounded fee of 14 per cent from the bottom 12 months 2015-16 for losses arising attributable to GST implementation for 5 years since its rollout, which can finish in June. States are involved as their revenues have taken successful amid Covid.

    The Finance Minister and state ministers will meet on Friday as properly on the forty sixth assembly of the GST Council, the place the difficulty of the proposed hike in GST fee on textiles to 12 per cent from 5 per cent, efficient January 1, can be taken up. West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya requested the Centre to think about extending GST compensation, together with a requirement for direct money transfers.

    “We have asked that money should be given directly to the hands of the people as DBT so that the economy can be revived. When India’s growth was negative by implementing DBT, Bengal had a positive growth. Because of Covid situation, states had to take a huge financial burden. The centre has to compensate for that through the Union Budget. The next issue is the centrally sponsored scheme and its share. There were many schemes which were 100% government. Now it is 60-40 (ratio), 50-50 and in some schemes 75-25 has been turned into 25-75 so this should be corrected,” she stated.
    Rajasthan made a illustration for discount in import obligation on gold and silver from 10 per cent to 4 per cent. Rajasthan additionally requested that every one irrigation and water work initiatives needs to be introduced below the Centre’s ambit and declared central schemes.
    Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan stated this chance needs to be used to right among the anomalies reminiscent of discount in state’s proper to find out their very own taxation. He additionally demanded extension of GST compensation cess regime for a minimum of 2 years due to Covid, together with making a case for elevating the share of the Union authorities in Centrally-sponsored schemes.

    Some states additionally raised the difficulty of placing the proposed fee hike on textiles efficient January 1 on maintain for now, a difficulty which can be to be mentioned within the GST Council assembly.
    The Finance Ministry in its assertion stated it has assured the states of analyzing the proposals made by them. “Most of the participants thanked the Union Finance Minister for financially supporting their States/Union Territories during the worst months of pandemic, by enhancing borrowing limits, providing back to back loans to States, and through Specsvial assistance for capital expenditure. The participants also gave numerous suggestions to the Union Finance Minister for inclusion in the Budget Speech. The Finance Minister thanked the participants for their inputs and suggestions towards Union Budget 2022-23 and assured to examine each of the proposals,” it stated.

  • GST price: IT Ministry to satisfy cell phone makers, search Budget inputs

    The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is prone to meet cell phone and allied part makers once more this week to debate attainable steps on rationalisation of levies similar to Goods and Services Tax (GST). The assembly will probably be held earlier than the scheduled assembly of GST Group of Ministers (GoM) assembly on November 27, sources stated.
    “There are some concerns we are aware of. We had some meetings in the past and we understand what we need to do. We will have a couple of more meetings to figure out how to best rationalise these levies,” a senior ministry official stated. In its conferences with the business associations, the Ministry can be prone to ask them to organize a report on their calls for from the Budget, sources stated.
    In conferences over the previous couple of weeks, cell phone and allied part makers have of their submissions instructed the IT Ministry that the levy of 18 per cent GST on cellphones had “led to very high costs”, and ought to be introduced all the way down to 12 per cent. They have additionally submitted that GST on allied part be decreased to five per cent.

  • GST assortment surges to Rs 1.30 lakh crore in October

    Goods and Services Tax (GST) assortment remained above Rs 1 lakh crore for the fourth month in a row at over Rs 1.30 lakh crore in October, indicating the affect of festive shopping for.
    This is the second highest assortment of GST since its implementation on July 1, 2017.
    The tax collections final month on items bought and companies rendered was 24 per cent increased than in October 2020.
    “The gross GST revenue collected in the month of October 2021 is Rs 1,30,127 crore of which CGST is Rs 23,861 crore, SGST is Rs 30,421 crore, IGST is Rs 67,361 crore (including Rs 32,998 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 8,484 crore (including Rs 699 crore collected on import of goods),” the finance ministry stated in an announcement.
    CGST refers to Central Goods and Services Tax, SGST (State Goods and Service Tax) and IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax).
    This may be very a lot consistent with the development in financial restoration, it stated, including “this is also evident from the trend in the e-way bills generated every month since the second wave”.
    The revenues would have nonetheless been increased if the gross sales of automobiles and different merchandise had not been affected on account of disruption in provide of semiconductors, it added.

  • GST shortfall: Centre releases 44K crore as back-to-back mortgage

    The Centre on Thursday launched the stability Rs 44,000 crore to states as mortgage to compensate for shortfall in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, taking the overall quantity to Rs 1.59 lakh crore this fiscal. These funds are along with regular GST compensation being launched each two months out of cess assortment.
    “It is expected that this release will help the states/UTs in planning their public expenditure among other things, for improving, health infrastructure and taking up infrastructure projects,” the Finance Ministry mentioned on Thursday.
    The forty third GST Council assembly on May 28, 2021, had determined that the Centre would borrow Rs 1.59 lakh crore in 2021-22 and launch it to states and UTs with legislature on a back-to-back foundation to satisfy the useful resource hole as a result of shortfall in compensation, on account of insufficient quantity collected within the GST compensation fund. This quantity is as per the ideas adopted for the same facility in 2020-21, the place Rs 1.10 lakh crore was launched.
    The funding assist comes at a time when lots of the states are strapped for money. While the Central authorities’s tax collections have develop into buoyant attributable to sharp spike in direct tax mop up, many states are on a weak income place.

    “Covid has impacted states disproportionately and many of them are now hard pressed for funds. Funding is essential at state levels to step up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation,” a senior official mentioned.
    The transfer is predicted to chill off yields in upcoming bonds auctions by states. “The early release of the balance amount of the back-to-back GST compensation loan to the states will help them to plan their expenditure in H2 FY2022, avoiding a bunching up at the end of the year. Moreover, it should help to compress the size of the SDL (state development loan) auctions in the immediate term, modestly cooling yields,” mentioned Aditi Nayar, chief economist, Icra.
    On July 15 and October 7, the Centre had launched Rs 75,000 crore and Rs 40,000 crore, respectively, to the states. With the discharge of funds on Thursday, the overall quantity has reached as back-to-back mortgage in-lieu of GST compensation is Rs 1.59 lakh crore.

    The Rs 44,000 crore being launched now could be funded from the Government of India securities issued within the present monetary 12 months. These securities have a tenure of 5 years and are issued at a weighted common yield of 5.69 per cent. No further market borrowing by the Central authorities is envisaged on account of this launch.
    Highest quantity of Rs 5,010.90 crore has been issued to Karnataka, adopted by Rs 3,814 crore to Maharashtra, Rs 3,608.53 crore to Gujarat, and Rs 3,357.48 crore to Punjab, amongst others.

  • CBIC reminds deadline for submitting GST return. Details right here

    Reminding deadline for submitting items and companies tax (GST) return, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has requested to furnish ‘Form ITC-04’ for July to September 2021 quarter by twenty fifth October 2021. The CBIC additionally knowledgeable that due date for submitting quarterly GSTR-3B return for Q2FY22 beneath QRMP scheme (Quarterly Return Monthly Payment) is twenty fourth October 2021. The central authorities physique knowledgeable concerning the deadline for submitting GST return for Q2FY22 in collection of tweets.

    Attention GST Taxpayers!Due date for submitting Form ITC-04 in respect of inputs/capital items despatched to a job employee or obtained from a job employee, throughout the quarter (July to September, 2021) is October 25, 2021. pic.twitter.com/PNMqgneP0m— CBIC (@cbic_india) October 23, 2021

    Informing concerning the deadline for furnishing intimation of products despatched on job work, the CBIC tweeted, “Attention GST Taxpayers! Due date for filing Form ITC-04 in respect of inputs/capital goods sent to a job worker or received from a job worker, during the quarter (July to September 2021) is October 25, 2021.”

    Attention GST Taxpayers who’re beneath QRMP Scheme and having principal place of work in State Group 2.Due date to file your quarterly GSTR-3B Return for July to September, 2021 is October 24, 2021. pic.twitter.com/cftXc5vRUt— CBIC (@cbic_india) October 23, 2021

    Reminding the GST taxpayers, who’re beneath QRMP scheme, having principal place of work in State Group 2, to file their returns inside three days, CBIC tweeted, “Attention GST Taxpayers who are under QRMP Scheme and having principal place of business in State Group 2. Due date to file your quarterly GSTR-3B Return for July to September is October 24, 2021.”

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  • GST collections hit five-month excessive, Govt says reveals economic system recovering

    GROSS GOODS and Services Tax (GST) income collections in September — for gross sales in August — rose to a five-month excessive of Rs 1,17,010 crore, up 22.5 per cent year-on-year, based on newest information.
    Although the tempo of income development slowed from the earlier month because of a waning low base impact from final yr, common month-to-month GST collections within the second quarter this yr (Rs 1.15 lakh crore) improved by 5 per cent from the primary quarter (Rs 1.10 lakh crore).
    Also, month-to-month collections have continued to enhance because of a pickup in financial exercise, alongside elevated compliance by distributors of larger firms. This is anticipated to enhance going forward because of the festive season.
    Significantly, a majority of key manufacturing states, together with Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, reported a development of over 20 per cent in comparison with final yr.
    “This clearly indicates that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. Coupled with economic growth, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers, have also been contributing to the enhanced GST collections. It is expected that the positive trend in the revenues will continue and the second half of the year will post higher revenues,” the Finance Ministry mentioned in an announcement.
    GST income had grown 29.6 per cent YoY in August — it got here in at Rs 86,449 crore in August 2020, after which it rose to Rs 95,480 crore in September 2020. In September 2020, GST revenues had grown 4 per cent over the income of Rs 91,916 crore in September 2019.
    Yet, general income buoyancy beneath GST is seen as a priority, particularly after the legally mandated compensation to states for income shortfall from GST implementation involves an finish in June 2022.
    The Finance Ministry had not too long ago constituted two ministerial panels as step one in direction of the primary structural overhaul after its July 2017 rollout. A “review” of the present slab construction has been integrated within the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the panels, based on an order dated September 24.
    The panel’s transient incorporates an overarching mandate: an analysis of “special rates” inside the tax construction, rationalisation measures that embody “a merger of tax rate slabs aimed at simplifying the rate structure”, a evaluate of situations of inverted obligation construction and an identification of potential sources of evasion.

    The GST has 5 key tax slabs: zero, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent together with 0.25 per cent and three per cent charge for valuable/ semi-precious stones and gold/ silver, respectively. A compensation cess, ranging between 1 per cent to 290 per cent, is levied on demerit and luxurious items over and above the topmost charge of 28 per cent.
    A merger of 5 per cent and 12 per cent slabs or 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs has been deliberated upon earlier as nicely however has not been taken up formally for a choice.
    Out of the entire Rs 1.17 lakh crore assortment in September, CGST is Rs 20,578 crore, SGST is Rs 26,767 crore, IGST is Rs 60,911 crore (together with Rs 29,555 crore collected on import of products) and cess is Rs 8,754 crore (together with Rs 623 crore collected on import of products).
    The Centre has additionally launched compensation of Rs 22,000 crore to states.

    M S Mani, Senior Director, Deloitte India mentioned: “The GST collection figures indicate that growth of the economy is leading to stable collections, which would help in achieving the fiscal deficit target of 6.8% of GDP. Most of the key manufacturing states reporting a growth of 20% plus compared to last year does indicate that an economic revival is clearly in progress across key states.”
    Pratik Jain, Partner, Price Waterhouse & Co LLP, mentioned: “Apart from the economy doing better and anti-evasion measures of the government, many large companies are nudging their vendors to be more compliant. In many cases, the payment of vendors is linked with updating of their invoices on the GST portal and timely filing of returns.”