45th GST Council Meeting: What Analysts Expect

GST Council Meeting 2021: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair the 45th goods and service tax (GST) Council meeting on Friday, September 17, in Lucknow, which is expected to consider bringing petrol, diesel under the ambit of indirect tax, according to reports. The move may require compromises by both central and state governments on the revenues that they collect from taxing the products. The 45th GST Council meeting tomorrow will be the first on-ground meeting in around 20 months, as the last such meeting was conducted in 2019 before restrictions were enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The meeting will be attended by the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, along with senior officials of the government as well as finance ministers of various states and Union territories. The Council is likely to discuss GST compensation shortfall to states - which are reeling under financial constraints amid the pandemic. 

Recently, the Supreme Court confirmed a Madras High Court judgment which upheld a fiscal formula included in the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules to execute the refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit (ITC) accumulated on account of input services. Some industry leaders and analysts seek the rationalisation of the IDS refund from the 45th GST Council meet tomorrow. 

''The recent Supreme Court judgement in VKC Footsteps has clarified that refund of unutilized ITC pertaining to ‘input services' will not be available in case of refund due to inverted duty structure (IDS).

However, the Court in its judgement has accepted that there is an anomaly in the formula for computing the quantum of eligible refund and has urged the GST Council to reconsider and take a policy decision regarding the same,'' said Mr. Saket Patawari, Executive Director–Indirect Tax, Nexdigm.