The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council approved the drafts of four sets of rules and finalised five others today i.e. on Friday, March 31, 2017.

 

The council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, approved the draft rules relating to composition, valuation, ITC (input tax credit) and the transition process.

 

Five other rules pertaining to registration, payment, refund, invoices and returns, the drafts of which have already been approved were finalised after incorporating amendments required for making these compatible with the GST Bills passed by the Lok Sabha on March 29, 2017.

 

“The five set of draft rules that were originally approved have been corrected in consonance with the GST legislations,” Jaitley told reporters after the Council’s meeting.

 

“The four new rules have been tentatively approved and put up in public domain for suggestions. These will be finalised in the Council’s next meeting,” Jaitley said.

 

The next meeting will take place on May 18-19 in Srinagar, where besides finalising these rules, the rate classification exercise will also be taken up. The Council has already agreed on a four-slab structure – 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent — along with a cess on luxury and `sin’ goods such as tobacco.

 

Rules are framed to activate laws as these rules are the subordinate legislation for filling in the gaps left by the legislature in the laws.