GST Council Meet: FM Sitharaman Unveils Biometric Authentication Among 10 Major Announcements

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Saturday the introduction of biometric-based Aadhaar authentication to combat fake invoicing, following the 53rd GST Council meeting. This nationwide rollout aims to address fraudulent input tax credit claims made through fake invoices.

Here are the other significant announcements made by the finance minister after the GST Council meeting:

1. The GST Council has recommended extending the deadline for small taxpayers to submit their returns from April 30 to June 30. This extension applies to returns for the Financial Year 2024-25 onwards.

2. Sitharaman stated that the Council recommended extending the time limit to furnish details and returns in the form GSTR 4 to June 30, starting from the Financial Year 2024-25.

3. The GST Council also suggested waiving interest and penalties for demand notices issued under Section 73 of the GST Act, provided the cases do not involve fraud, suppression, or misstatements.

4. Services provided by Indian Railways, such as platform tickets, will be exempt from GST.

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5. The 53rd GST Council Meeting focused on trade facilitation, easing the compliance burden, and providing relief to taxpayers, particularly traders, MSMEs, and taxpayers, as highlighted by Sitharaman.

6. Sitharaman reiterated that the Council recommended waiving interest and penalties for demand notices issued under Section 73 of the GST Act, covering non-fraudulent cases.

7. For demand notices issued under Section 73 for the Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, the Council recommended waiving interest and penalties.

8. The time limit to avail input tax credit for invoices or debit notes filed up to November 30, 2021, for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, will be retrospectively amended to be from July 1, 2017.

9. To reduce government litigation, the GST Council recommended monetary limits for filing appeals by the department in various courts. These limits are set at ₹20 lakh for the GST appellate tribunal, ₹1 crore for the High Court, and ₹2 crore for the Supreme Court.

10. The Council also recommended reducing the maximum amount for pre-deposit for filing appeals before the appellate authority from ₹25 crores CGST and ₹25 crores SGST to ₹20 crores CGST and ₹20 crores SGST.