The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council offered suggestions on Saturday, June 22, at its 53rd meeting in New Delhi regarding tax exemption on services provided by Indian Railways to the general public as well as biometric-based Aadhaar identification to prevent fraudulent invoicing.
According to Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, the sale of platform tickets and services such as retiring rooms, waiting rooms, cloakroom facilities and battery-operated car services are now exempted from GST. FM said this while apprising the press on key decisions taken in the meet.
The decision to implement Pan-India biometric authentication to detect fake invoicing will assist in combating fraudulent input tax credit claims made using fake invoices, she further stated. “The time limit to avail input tax credit in respect of any invoice or debit note under section 16(4) of the CGST Act filed up to the 30-11-2021 for the financial years 17-18, 18-19, 19-20 and 20-21 may be deemed to be 2011 to 2021. So for the same requisite amendment retrospectively with effect from 1 July 2017, the council has made a recommendation”, said FM.
Furthermore, the finance minister pointed out that there will be another meeting post the budget session. This was the first GST council meeting after the formation of the new government.
Prior to this, the 52nd GST council meeting was held on October 7, 2023.