GST Council meeting rescheduled to July 21

The GST Council meeting has been postponed to July 21, in view of Parliament's monsoon session and the finance minister's engagements.

The GST Council's 28th meeting was earlier scheduled to be held on July 19, but after the dates of the Monsoon session commenced, the date for the council meeting was pushed ahead to a Saturday. The Monsoon session is beginning on July 18 and concluding on August 10.

Apart from a detailed re-arrangement of rate structure under GST, the council is also expected to consider simplifying the GSTR forms, some of which have still not notified and running on a temporary basis.

The council is expected to bring a number of goods under the rate structure of 12-18% from the current highest slab of 28%. Cement, paint and digital cameras are expected to come into the lower bracket of up to 18%, sources close to the development said.

They said the council will also deliberate on a centralised appellate authority under the GST.

The meeting will take place through video conferencing and the finance ministers of states will attend from their respective states.

"A final decision on inclusion of natural gas is expected to come in the GST Council meeting this time. On the natural gas front, there is some consensus for bringing it into the GST ambit, and therefore, it could be first petroleum product that could come in well within the GST network,” Dheeraj Rastogi, Joint Secretary of the GST Council, had said last month.