Crucial GST Council meet begins; rationalisation of rates on real estate, lottery key agenda

New Delhi: The crucial GST Council meeting began on Wednesday with key agenda on rationalisation of rates of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on real estate and lottery.

The 33rd GST Council meeting is being held via video conference with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with state finance ministers. The other members of the committee are West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho, Karnataka Finance Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Arunachal Tax and Excise Minister Jarkar Gamlin.

The eight-member GoM, under Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, set up to look into the taxation of lottery in a previous meeting favoured a uniform GST rate of either 18 percent or 28 percent, but left it to the GST Council to take a final call. Currently, a state-organised lottery attracts 12 percent GST while a state-authorised lottery attracts 28 percent tax.

The GoM favoured hiking GST rate on the state-organised lottery to either 18 percent or 28 percent. While the GST rate on state-authorised lottery would be retained at 28 percent or brought down to 18 percent.

With regard to real estate sector, a state ministerial panel on GST rates for real estate sector had earlier this month suggested cutting GST on under-construction residential properties to 5 percent without ITC, from 12 percent currently. On affordable housing segment, it suggested that GST be slashed to 3 percent, from 8 percent.

Currently, GST is levied at 12 percent with input tax credit (ITC) on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.

With PTI Inputs