Mobiles to get costlier after this GST council decision
From April 1, 2020, mobile phones will become 6 percent more expensive. In the 39th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council held in New Delhi on Saturday under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, it was decided to increase the GST on mobile phones from 12 to 18 per cent.
On the other hand, the government has increased the GST rate to 12% on all kinds of matches made by hand and machine. Nirmala Sitharaman said that at present, the rate of GST on mobile phones and its special parts is 12 percent. The council has agreed to increase the GST rate to 18 per cent on these two.
It has been decided in order to promote airplane repair, repair and overhaul (MRO) service in the country to cut the GST rate on this service. The Finance Minister said that GST is now payable at the rate of 18 per cent on it. It has been decided to reduce it to five per cent. Along with this, they will also be given the facility of full input tax credit. All these decisions will be effective from April 1, 2020. Even before the supply of mobile devices from China was affected due to Coronavirus, handset companies were talking about price hike.
Tamil Nadu had demanded a reasonable rate
The council meeting also decided to rationalize the GST rate on matches. Currently, 5% GST is payable on handmade matches, while machine-made matches attract 18% GST. There was a demand for its rationalization from Tamil Nadu as matches are made in large quantities there. After considering this, the council decided to increase the GST rate on all types of matches to 12 percent.
Relief to small businessmen
In the meeting, it has been said to levy interest on the total tax from July 1 on the delay in GST payment. However, some relief has been given to small traders. The deadline for filing GSTR-9C has been relaxed. Businessmen with annual turnovers up to 5 crore have been extended to 30 June 2020 for filing the annual returns for FY 2018-19 and resolving the details. This rule will also apply if there is a delay in filing the resolution of the statement.
Infosys chairman to be present in the next meetings
Finance Minister Sitharaman said that Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani has been asked to attend the next three GST Council meetings to streamline the GST network. Sitharaman said that a better GSTN system is to be ensured by Infosys by July 2020. Nilekani sought time till January 2021 for the smooth functioning of GST’s IT systems. The Finance Minister said that GST Council has asked Infosys to deploy more skilled manpower and increase hardware capacity.
