Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has decided that there will be no tax rate on millet flour containing 70 per cent composition, and 5 per cent GST on branded products.
Earlier, the fitment committee of the GST Council had recommended the exemption on powdered millet. It had refused to give any incentive for prepared produce made out of millet.
The minister, during the press conference after the meeting, said food preparation of millet flour containing at least 70 per cenr of composition by weight, will have nil GST when sold loose without branding.
Millet flour has gained popularity of late due to its high nutritional value. India is observing 2023 as the 'Year of Millets'. The exemption is significant at this moment as the government has been focusing on promoting millets.
"The GST Council want to participate in the Year of Millets. In powder form, millets being blended with any other atta for instance where the millet's composition is 70 per cent, we state that they will be having zero per cent GST if sold in other than pre-packaged and labelled form," Sitharaman said on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, news agency ANI reported that the GST Council has slashed GST on millet flour food preparations.
The GST Council didn't clarify on the online gaming. FM Sitharaman said that states have raised the issue of notices for tax demand served under the GST regime on gaming companies and others during the meeting. Some states have termed it as “retrospective taxation”.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi said the issuance of tax evasion notices totaling Rs 1.5 lakh crore to online gaming companies could potentially affect their operations. "Valuation of online gaming companies is ₹23,000 crore while ₹1.5 lakh crore tax evasion notices were sent to companies of the online gaming industry. I will seek a withdrawal of tax notices in today's GST council meeting," said Atishi told PTI on Saturday.
She argued that retracting these notices is essential to safeguard the industry which is “already facing adverse effects of imposition of a 28 per cent tax.”
She added an "unstable and erratic tax environment" could discourage foreign investors from entering the online gaming industry, thereby affecting the overall startup ecosystem in the country.
Recently, All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) had written to Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra seeking information on GST tax terms as around 15 states are yet to make changes to their respective State GST laws. AIGF has asked what would be GST treatment that ought to be adopted by online gaming companies registered in those states in relation to deposits received from players of those states.
On August 2, the GST Council had proposed amendments to the GST laws and “clarified” that a 28 per cent taxation on casinos, horse racing and online gaming will be imposed. It specified that the tax would be on the full value of bets placed rather than the gross gaming revenue. These amendments post-approval by Parliament in the monsoon session became operational on October 1.
In last few weeks, several online real money gaming companies have received show cause notices for allegedly evading taxes. The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) reportedly sent notices for Rs 21,000 crore to Play Games 24X7, which operates RummyCircle My11Circle, while fantasy e-sports firm Dream11 also received a notice for Rs 28,000 crore.
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