Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is meeting the heads of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and the top officials from the Income Tax Department for a brainstorming session. This is as per a CNBC-TV 18 report.
The report stated that the Finance Minister will meet with the top officials of the GST and Customs departments on June 19 and 20. Additionally, the Finance Minister will meet officials from the Income Tax department on June 23.
What’s on agenda?
The agenda of the Finance Minister’s meeting with the heads of direct and indirect tax departments is to discuss rate rationalization, trade facilitation compensation cess. Additionally, Finance will be seeking an update on the current revenue trends.
Furthermore, the finance minister will discuss the issues relating to taxpayers’ facilitation, speeding up the refund and filing process with the officials from the income tax department. Dispute resolution and revenue augmentation are also on the agenda of the meeting.
With the customs official, the Finance Minister is expected to have a discussion on faster clearance for customs and cargo, says the report. Additionally, FM will also discuss the capacity-building issue with the customs officials.
The discussions will also cover issues related to international taxation and safe harbour.
Upcoming GST council meeting
The next GST council meeting is likely to be held this month, and expectations are that the Council is likely to take up the long-pending issue of tax relief for life and health insurance premiums.
According to government sources cited by Moneycontrol, the GoM on insurance is likely to reintroduce its earlier proposal recommending a complete GST exemption on term life insurance premiums and health insurance premiums for senior citizens. The GoM also suggested waiving GST on health insurance policies with coverage up to Rs 5 lakh, in a bid to enhance affordability for the general public.