Election Commission gives go-ahead to GST Council meeting on March 19

The Election Commission has given approval for holding the upcoming GST Council meeting on March 19 to consider various issues including the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector. The next meeting will be held through video conferencing, sources said. Following the approval from the Election Commission, sources said, notices have been sent from the GST Council Secretariat to states for the 34th meeting of the Council on March 19, they said.

The nod from the Election Commission was required as the Model Code of Conduct has been in force since Sunday. The meeting will be held to discuss only transition provision and related issues for the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector, the sources said. In the previous meeting, the high-powered GST Council slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 per cent and affordable homes to 1 per cent, effective April 1.

Currently, the goods and services tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent with input tax credit (ITC) on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate is not issued at the time of sale. For affordable housing units, the existing tax rate is 8 per cent.

GST collections in February dropped to Rs 97,247 crore from Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the previous month. Of this, Central GST was Rs 17,626 crore, State GST (SGST) stood at Rs 24,192 crore, Integrated GST Rs 46,953 crore and cess was Rs 8,476 crore. GST collections in the current fiscal till February totalled Rs 10.70 lakh crore.

The government has lowered the GST collection target for the current fiscal to Rs 11.47 lakh crore in the Revised Estimates, from Rs 13.71 lakh crore budgeted initially. For the next fiscal 2019-20, the GST collection target has been fixed at Rs 13.71 lakh crore.

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GST collection stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore in April, Rs 94,016 crore in May, Rs 95,610 crore in June, Rs 96,483 crore in July, Rs 93,960 crore in August, Rs 94,442 crore in September, Rs 1,00,710 crore in October, Rs 97,637 crore in November, Rs 94,725 crore in December 2018 and Rs 1.02 lakh crore in January 2019.