New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) council has decided to grant complete exemption of IGST on the import of Covid-treatment materials for free distribution till August 31. The provision that IGST waiver was only for materials received free of cost has been excluded.
The exemption is applicable for materials that would be donated to the government or to any agency recommended by the government. The exemption is for over 20 materials related to Covid treatment such as vaccine, medicines, and equipment. The basic import duty for these had been exempted earlier itself.
• Amphotericin B, for black fungus treatment, has also been included in the list of exemption.
• A group of Ministers will be formed on Saturday to recommend more materials, that need to be considered for exemptions, and the rates. The group will have to submit the report within June 8.
• A special meet of the council will be called to only discuss compensation cess for states. Discussions will be held on till when the compensation should be extended after July next year and at what rate.
• To give the compensation for this year, the Centre will make Rs 1.58 lakh crore available to the states through borrowings.
• An amnesty scheme for small tax-payers to pay late fee and file the returns for the period from July 2017-2021.
• For those without tax liabilities, a maximum late fee of Rs 500 with Rs 250 each for CGST and SGST. A maximum of Rs 1000 for others with Rs 500 in each category. This is for the period of June 1-August 31.
Taking into account the Covid crisis, a decision has also been taken to extend the deadline for filing returns. The companies can file returns till August 31 using an electronic verification code.
