No tax hike on any item, GST on Biofuel reduced from 18% to 5%

The 48th meeting of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council was held on Saturday (December 17) under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. No tax increase was made on any item in this meeting. The GST Council agreed to decriminalize certain offences. The council also deferred the decision to levy GST on online gaming, horse racing and casinos.
At the same time, GST on biofuel was reduced from 18% to 5%. GST on pulses hulls has now been reduced from 5% to nil. Now cases of tax evasion of Rs 2 crore will not be considered criminal. The Finance Minister said that a decision has been taken on the decriminalization of the GST Act. This means that mistakes have been excluded from the category of crime.
Nirmala Sitharaman said that due to paucity of time, the Council could take a decision on only 8 out of 15 issues on the agenda. The issue of stopping tax evasion in pan masala and tobacco-gutkha businesses could not even be raised. At the same time, no new tax has been brought. He said that the remaining issues would be discussed in the next meeting.
After the meeting, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said that the GST Council has agreed on the decriminalization of certain offences. With this, the monetary limit for initiating prosecution has been doubled to Rs 2 crore. This can help in 'Ease of Doing Business'.
The Revenue Secretary said that no decision has been taken regarding GST on online gaming and casino. A few days back, a report on this has been submitted by the Group of Ministers headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. The report has also not been circulated among the people of the Council.