The Goods and Services Tax Council (GST), which met after nearly nine months on Saturday, approved key measures. These extended not just to small businesses, but even major sectors. In fact, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced GST exemption for people who visit railway platforms and students staying in community hostels. This also extended to apple growers, milkmen, and households, as well. Here is all you need to know about the major development.
GST Exempted From Some Indian Railway Services
The 53rd meeting of the GST Council convened on Saturday, June 23. As a result, the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has taken some key decisions. In a report by Hindustan Times, it was mentioned GST has been exempted from accommodation services that are provided to students outside educational institutions. This exemption is conditional to the accommodation rent being up to ₹20,000 per person per month. Not to mention, the accommodation service provider should be on a minimum continuous period of 90 days.
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More About This Exemption
Besides this, some services provided by the Indian Railways have also been exempted from GST, providing great relief to people. The sale of platform tickets, cloakroom services, battery-operated car services, and facilities of retiring rooms or waiting rooms have also been exempted from the GST. Not to mention, it also includes intra-railway transactions. As a result, it is bound to reduce operational costs! As such, GST has also been reduced on solar cookers and apple growers of Himachal Pradesh and J&K have also been given relief. This happens as the GST rate on carton boxes and cases of corrugated and non-corrugated paper and paper-board have been reduced to 12% from the previous 18%.
At this point, it’s worth noting that this is the first meeting of the GST Council, eversince the new union government was elected. During a press conference, it was also revealed that a biometric-based authentication system is also expected to be introduced in a phased manner. This will ease the registration process in GST.
So, if you are a student and are looking for hostel accommodation, you are bound to save some bugs with this major update.
Cover Image Courtesy: X/FinMinIndia