GST NEWSLETTER -JUNE 2021
GST Council Secretariat, New Delhi
Highlights of 44 GST Council Meeting
The 44th GST Council met on 12 June 2021 under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman through video conferencing. The meeting was attended by Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Thakur, Finance Ministers of States & UTs and senior officers of the Centre & States/ UTs. The meeting was exclusively discussed the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers (GoM) which constituted to examine the GST rates on vaccines, medicines and other items used to fight against Covid-19. The Council has accepted the recommendations of GoM and decided to reduce the GST rates on these items till 30 September, 2021.
The details of the items and its recommended GST rates are given below:
1. Medicines
| Sl. No. | Description | Present GST Rate | GST Rate recommended |
| 1 | Tocilizumab | 5% | Nil |
| 2 | Amphotericin B | 5% | Nil |
| 3 | Anti-Coagulants like Heparin | 12% | 5% |
| 4 | Remdesivir | 12% | 5% |
| 5 | Any other drug recommended by MoHFW and Dept. of Pharma for Covid Treatment | Applicable Rate | 5% |
2. Oxygen, Oxygen generation equipment and related medical devices
| Sl. No. | Description | Present GST Rate | GST Rate recommended |
| 1 | Medical Grade Oxygen | 12% | 5% |
| 2 | Oxygen Concentrator/ Generator, including personal imports thereof | 12% | 5% |
| 3 | Ventilators | 12% | 5% |
| 4 | Ventilator masks / canula / helmet | 12% | 5% |
| 5 | BiPAP Machine | 12% | 5% |
| 6 | High Flow Nasal Canula (HFNC) device | 12% | 5% |
3. Testing Kits and Machines
| Sl. No. | Description | Present GST Rate | GST Rate recommended |
| 1 | Covid Testing Kits | 12% | 5% |
| 2 | Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits, namely D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin and LDH | 12% | 5% |
4.Other Covid-19 Related Relief Material
| Sl. No. | Description | Present GST Rate | GST Rate recommended |
| 1 | Pulse Oximeters, incl personal imports thereof | 12% | 5% |
| 2 | Hand Sanitizer | 18% | 5% |
| 3 | Temperature check equipment | 18% | 5% |
| 4 | Gas/Electric/other furnaces for crematorium, including their installation, etc. | 18% | 5% |
| 5 | Ambulances | 28% | 12% |
Source: PIB Press Release dated 12.06.2021
Notifications
Central Tax (Rates)
| Notification No. | Subject |
| 04/2021-Central Tax (Rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to amend notification No. 11/2017- Central Tax (Rate) so as to notify GST rates of various services as recommended by GST Council in its 44th meeting held on 12.06.2021. |
| 05/2021-Central Tax (Rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to provide the concessional rate of CGST on Covid-19 relief supplies up to 30.09.2021. |
Integrated Tax (Rates)
| Notification No. | Subject |
| 04/2021- Integrated Tax (Rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to amend notification No. 08/2017- Integrated Tax (Rate) so as to notify GST rates of various services as recommended by GST Council in its 44th meeting held on 12.06.2021. |
| 05/2021- Integrated Tax (Rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to provide the concessional rate of IGST on Covid-19 relief supplies up to 30.09.2021. |
Union Territory Tax (Rates)
| Notification No. | Subject |
| 04/2021-Union Territory tax(rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to amend notification No. 11/2017- Union Territory Tax (Rate) so as to notify GST rates of various services as recommended by GST Council in its 44th meeting held on 12.06.2021 |
| 05/2021-Union Territory tax(rate), dated 14.06.2021 | Seeks to provide the concessional rate of UTGST on Covid-19 relief supplies up to 30.09.2021. |
Circulars
Applicability of GST on supply of food in Anganwadis and Schools
It has been clarified that, services provided to an educational institution by way of serving of food (catering including mid- day meals) is exempt from levy of GST irrespective of its funding from Government grants or corporate donations (under entry 66(b)(ii) of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017).
Source: Circular No. 149/05/2021-GST dated 17.6.2021
Applicability of GST on the activity of construction of road where consideration is received in deferred payment
As recommended by GST Council, it has been clarified that entry 23A of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017 does not exempt GST on the annuity (deferred payments) paid for construction of roads.
Source: Circular No. 150/06/2021 dated 17.6.2021
GST on supply of various services by Central and State Boards It has been clarified that:
i. GST is exempt on services provided by Central or State Boards (including the boards such as National Board of Examination) by way of conduct of examination for the students, including conduct of entrance examination for admission to educational institution (under No. 66 (aa) of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017)
ii. GST is also exempt on input services relating to admission to, or conduct of examination, such as online testing service, result publication, printing of notification for examination, admit card and questions papers etc., when provided to such Boards (under No. 66(b)(iv) of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017)
iii. GST at the rate of 18% applies to other services provided by such Boards, namely of providing accreditation to an institution or to a professional (accreditation fee or registration fee) so as to authorise them to provide their respective services.
Source: Circular No. 151/07/2021-GST dated 17.6.2021
GST on construction services provided to a Government Entity, in relation to construction such as of Ropeway on turnkey basis
Works contract service provided by way of construction such as of rope way fall under entry no. 3(xii) of notification No. 11/2017- Central Tax (Rate),Dated: 28/06/2017 and attract GST at the rate of 18%.
Source: Circular No. 152/08/2021-GST dated 17.6.2021
GST on milling of wheat into flour or paddy into rice for distribution by State under PDS
It has been clarified that-
i. Public Distribution specifically figures at entry 28 of the 11th Schedule to the Constitution, which lists the activities that may be entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution. Hence, said entry No. 3A would apply to composite supply of milling of wheat and fortification thereof by miller, or of paddy into rice, provided that value of goods supplied in such composite supply (goods used for fortification, packing material etc.) does not exceed 25% of the value of composite supply. It is a matter of fact as to whether the value of goods in such composite supply is up to 25% and requires ascertainment on case-to-case basis.
ii. In case the supply of service by way of milling of wheat into flour or of paddy into rice, is not eligible for exemption under Sl. No. 3 A for the reason that value of goods supply in such a composite supply exceeds 25%, then the applicable GST rate would be 5% if such composite supply is provided to a registered person, being a job work service (entry No. 26 of notification No. 11/2017- Central Tax (Rate),Dated: 28/06/2017).
Source: Circular No. 153/09/2021-GST dated 17.6.2021
GST on service supplied by State Government to their undertakings or PSUs by way of guaranteeing loans taken by them
It has been re-iterated that guaranteeing of loans by Central or State Government for their undertaking or PSU is specifically exempt under entry No. 34A of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017.
Source: Circular No. 154/10/2021-GST dated 17.06.2021
GST rate on laterals/parts of Sprinklers or Drip Irrigation System
It has been clarified that that laterals/parts to be used solely or principally with sprinklers or drip irrigation system, which are classifiable under heading 8424, would attract a GST of 12%, even if supplied separately. However, any part of general use, which gets classified in a heading other than 8424, in terms of Section Note and Chapter Notes to HSN, shall attract GST as applicable to the respective heading.
Source: Circular No. 155/11/2021-GST dated 17.06.2021
Applicability of Dynamic QR Code on B2C invoices
The applicability of Dynamic Quick Response (QR) Code on B2C invoices and compliance of notification 14/2020- Central Tax dated 21st March, 2020 has been clarified the following issues:
i. Invoices issued to UIN holders shall be considered as invoice issued for a B2C supply and shall be required to comply with the requirement of the dynamic QR Code.
ii. Details of the bank account and IFSC is not separately required since each UPI ID is linked to a specific bank account of the payee/person collecting money.
iii. In cases where the payment is collected by a third person, authorized by the supplier to collect the payment, the UPI ID of such person authorised to collect the amount may be provided in the dynamic QR Code, instead of UPI ID of the supplier.
iv. In case of supply of services to person located outside India where payment is received in foreign currency and place of supply is within India (ie services not considered as an export), QR code is not required since it cannot be used for payment by recipient in such case.
v. In case invoices are generated after receipt of payment, unique ID linked to the invoice may be provided in dynamic QR Code for digital display as long as such ID is available on the processing system of the supplier and cross reference of payment is provided on invoice.
vi. In case of receipt of part payments by way of advance or adjustment (ie using voucher or discount coupon) before QR Code is generated, the code may provide only the balance amount payable and invoice shall contain total invoice value and cross reference to part payment.
Source: Circular No. 156/12/2021-GST dated 21.06.2021
GoM on movement of Gold & Precious Stones
The Government has partially modified the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted on movement of Gold and Precious Stones. The GoM will function under the convenorship of Shri K.N Balagopal, Finance Minister of Kerala. The other members are Shri Tarkishore Prasad, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitinbhai Patel, Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Manpreet Singh Badal, Minister for Finance, Punjab, Shri Basvarai Bommai, Minister for Home, Karnataka, and Dr. Amit Mara, Finance Minister, West Bengal.
Source: Office Memorandum issued by GST Council dated 04.06.2021
GST Portal Updates
> Functionality to register complaint on misuse of PAN in GST Registration
Functionality to register complaint on misuse of PAN in GST Registration is now available on GST Portal
Portal Updated on 29.06.2021
> Webinars on New Functionalities related to Registration, Returns, Refund etc deployed on GST Portal
GSTN has implemented new functionalities on the GST Portal for the convenience of taxpayers for registration, Returns, Advance Ruling, Payment, Refund and other miscellaneous topics. For creating awareness
amongst new applicants and the existing taxpayers, GSTN is holding various webinars, on 29.06.2021, 1.07.2021 and 2.07.2021. Recording of these sessions will also be available on GSTNs dedicated YouTube channel. Portal Updated on 28.06.2021, 17.06.2021 & 16.06.2021
> Upcoming functionalities to be deployed on GST Portal for the Taxpayers
As part of the constant endeavour to provide a smooth and hassle-free experience to the taxpayers and simplify the process for them, to comply with their GST compliances, following functionalities are recently deployed or are being deployed on the portal shortly:
| Sl. No. | Module | Form/ Functionality | Functionality released/to be released for Taxpayers | Present Status |
| 1 | Ledgers | Negative liability statement made a vailable to composition taxpayers |
In case of a negative liability in any tax period of a composition taxpayer (and if no amount is required to be paid by the taxpayer (during that period)), the said negative liability will be maintained in Negative liability statement. This negative balance lying in the negative liability statement will be automatically adjusted against the liabilities of subsequent tax period(s).
The statement would be accessible to them, post-login, by navigating to Services > Ledgers > Negative Liability Statement. |
Deployed on the Portal |
| 2 | Returns | Download of Form GSTR-4A in excel and auto-population of its details in Form GSTR-4 of the composition taxpayer | Form GSTR-4A is an auto-drafted statement generated for Taxpayers opting for Composition levy, containing details reported by their registered suppliers in their Form GSTR-1/ GSTR-5 and by their TDS deductors in their Form GSTR-7.
A facility to download the details of Form GSTR-4A, in an Excel file would be made available to the taxpayers, soon. This Excel file would contain consolidated summary of the supplies at GSTIN level, for the complete financial year, which are required to be reported in Annual Return filed by them in Form GSTR-4. This summary will also be auto-populated in Table 4A and 4B of their Form GSTR-4. |
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| 3 | Front Office |
Inclusion of common names in the HSN Directory and its download in excel format by the taxpayers | The currently available HSN Master has been updated on the GST Portal and it now includes product names commonly used in Trade corresponding to a particular HSN code.
A download facility for the entire HSN directory in Excel Format has also been provided to the taxpayers under the link “Download HSN in Excel Format”. This facility is available as a part of the ‘Search HSN’ functionality, available both in Pre and Post Login, on the GST Portal. |
Deployed on the Portal |
Portal updated on 11.06.2021
> Table-12 of GSTR-1 (Advisory)
Table-12 of GSTR-1 pertains to the data related to the HSN-code wise supplies of goods & services declared in the aforesaid GSTR-1. It has been reported that in the GSTR-1 for the tax period of May 2021, the ‘Total Invoice value’ field in the preview PDF is displaying a value as ‘0’ (zero) instead of N.A, in the cases where the taxpayer has not reported any value in the concerned Table-12 of GSTR-1.
Technical team is working towards resolving this issue at the earliest. Meanwhile, taxpayers are requested to kindly proceed with their filing of GSTR-1 & ignore this error for the time being, till it is being fixed. Portal updated on 08.06.2021
> Relief to taxpayers, regarding late fee, for delay in filing Form GSTR-3B returns
Vide Notification No. 19/2021, dated 1st June, 2021, inter alia, has waived the late fee payable, in excess of amount as specified in the GST portal. For the registered persons who have failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B, for the months /quarter of July, 2017 to April, 2021, by the due date.
| Sl. No. | Return in FORM GSTR-3B for the month/ quarter of |
Amount of Central & State/ UT tax payable in the return |
If Return
furnished between |
Late fee payable waived in excess of (Rs) |
| 1 | July, 2017 to April, 2021 | NIL | 1st June, 2021 and 31st August,2021 | 500 |
| 2 | July, 2017 to April, 2021 | Not NIL | 1st June, 2021 and 31st August,2021 | 1000 |
For the tax period of June, 2021 onwards or quarter ending June, 2021 onwards:
| Sl. No |
Class of registered persons | Late fee payable waived in excess of (Rs) |
| 1 | Registered persons whose total amount of Central Tax & State/UT tax payable in the said return is Nil | 500 |
| 2 | Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of up to rupees 1.5 crores in the preceding financial year, other than those covered under S. No. 1 | 2,000 |
| 3 | Taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of more than rupees 1.5 crores and up to rupees 5 crores in the preceding financial year, other than those covered under S. No. 1 | 5,000 |
(Note: Please refer to respective State/UT Notifications for waiver of State/UT tax). Portal updated on 05.06.2021
> Waiver of interest and late fee for normal taxpayers (filing return on monthly or quarterly basis) and composition taxpayers (Part I & Part II)
Government has granted waiver from payment of interest and/or late fee to normal (Monthly / Quarterly) & composition taxpayers for the tax periods of March, April & May, 2021, vide Notifications. Nos. 18/2021 & 19/2021, both dated 1st June, 2021.
Portal Updated on 04.06.2021 & 05.06.2021
The details are summarized below:
A. Filing of Form GSTR-1/IFF by Normal Taxpayers:
| Sl.No. | Form Type | To be filed by | Tax period | Due Date/last date | Due Date/Last Date Extended till |
| 1 | Form GSTR-1 (Monthly) | Normal Taxpayer filing Monthly returns | May,2021 | 11.06.2021 | 26.06.2021 |
| 2 | Form IFF (optional) | Normal Taxpayers under QRMP Scheme | May,2021 | 13.06.2021 | 28.06.2021 |
B. Filing of Returns by Composition, NRTP, ISD, TDS & TCS Taxpayers:
| Sl. No. | Return Type (Form) | To be filed by | Tax period | Due Date/last date | Due Date/Last Date Extended till |
| 1 | GSTR-4 | Composition Taxpayers (Annual Return) | FY 2020-21 | 30th April, 2021 | 31st July, 2021 |
| 2 | GSTR-5 | Non-Resident Taxpayers (NRTP) | March/April/May, 2021 | 20th April/May/June, 2021 | 30th June, 2021 |
| 3 | GSTR-6 | Input Service Distributors (ISD) | April/May, 2021 | 13th May/June, 2021 | 30th June, 2021 |
| 4 | GSTR-7 | Tax Deductors at Source (TDS deductors) | -do- | 10th May/June, 2021 | 30th June, 2021 |
| 5 | GSTR-8 | Tax Collectors at Source (TCS collectors) | -do- | 10th May/June, 2021 | 30th June, 2021 |
C. Filing of Form ITC-04:
The due date for filing of Form GST ITC-04 (to be filed by Principal/Manufacturer for goods sent/received/supplied from Job Worker) for the quarter Jan-March, 2021, (due date 25th April, 2021) has been extended till 30th June, 2021.
Portal Updated on 03.06.2021
GST Revenue collection for June, 2021
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of June 2021 was Rs.92,849 crore of which CGST is Rs.16,424 crore, SGST is Rs.20,397, IGST is Rs.49,079 crore (including Rs.25,762 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs. 6,949 crore (including Rs. 809 crore collected on import of goods).The above figure includes GST collection from domestic transactions between 5th June to 5thJuly 2021 since taxpayers were given various relief measures in the form of waiver/reduction in interest on delayed return filing for 15 days for the return filing month June’21 for the taxpayers with the aggregate turnover upto Rs.5 crore in the wake of covid pandemic second wave. During this month the government has settled Rs.19,286 crore to CGST and Rs. 16,939 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.
GST collection after posting above Rs. 1 lakh crore mark for eight months in a row, the collection in June’2021 dropped below Rs.1 lakh crore. The GST collection for June’2021 is related to the business transactions made during May’2021. During May’2021, most of the States/UTs were under either complete or partial lock down due to COVID. The e-way bill data for the month of May 2021 shows that during the month, 3.99 crore e-way bills were generated as compared to 5.88 crore in the month of April 2021, down by more than 30%.
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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is in-house efforts of the GST Council Secretariat. The contents ofthis newsletter do not represent the views of GST Council and are for reference purpose only.
though it is true that 500 Rs for nill return but unfortunately the portal is not working .what should we do