The 43rd Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council convened under the chairmanship of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The council has recommended a ‘general amnesty scheme’ to reduce late payments by small taxpayers and medium-sized taxpayers (total revenue up to Rs 5 crore) for outstanding income.
Relaxation period for commercial facilities:
*Taxpayers who are registered under GST and have not filed their income can avail the benefit of this general amnesty scheme GSTR-3B for the tax periods from July, 2017 to April 2021. Those reports must be filed by or before August 31, 2021 (relaxations came into effect on June 01,2021).
*Currently, the amnesty scheme may benefit 89 per cent GST taxpayers as they can file their outstanding income without much penalty.
COVID-19 related products are exempt from IGST till 31st August 2021
*COVID-19 related products, such as medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators and other oxygen storage and transport equipment, some diagnostic markers, test kits and COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for complete exemption from the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). August 31, 2021
*It is recommended that amphotericin, the main drug for the treatment of black fungus, be added to the list of products exempt from IGST.
*IGST is levied on goods and services transferred from one state to another, and IGST revenue is shared by the State Government and the Central Government.