The GST council has referred a recommendation on exempting the fertiliser sector from the current 5 per cent GST to the group of ministers on rate rationalisation, Andhra Pradesh finance minister P. Keshav said on Saturday.
The council discussed the recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers in February to reduce GST on nutrients and raw materials.
GST at a 5 per cent rate is charged on fertilisers, while raw materials such as Sulphuric Acid and Ammonia face a higher GST at 18 per cent.
The meeting, the first in eight months, addressed key areas such as tax rate rationalisation, trade facilitation, and dispute resolution.
While a final decision on GST rate rationalisation remains elusive, the Council appointed Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary to lead a group of ministers on the issue. The issue of 28 per cent GST on the full value of bets for online gaming companies, which came into effect on October 1, did not come up for discussion on Saturday.
Other decisions
The GST Council on Saturday decided to tweak tax rates on items, including accommodation services for students and solar cookers, and took a host of taxpayer-friendly measures including waiver of interest and penalty for demand notices issued in the first three years of GST rollout.
The Council has recommended to roll out the biometric-based Aadhaar authentication of registration applicants in a phased manner.
The Council decided to fix a monetary limit for tax officers to file appeals before the GST Appellate Tribunal, the high courts and the Supreme Court at ₹20 lakh, ₹1 crore and ₹2 crore, respectively.
The Council recommended the reduction of taxes to 12 per cent on milk cans (steel, iron, aluminium) irrespective of use; carton, boxes and cases of both corrugated and non-corrugated paper or paper-board; solar cookers; and sprinklers.
The council also recommended GST exemption on the sale of platform tickets, facility of retiring rooms, cloak room services and battery-operated car services provided by Indian Railways.
