17th GST Council Meeting held on 18th june, 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan,New Delhi

With the series of GST Meetings, the 17th GST Council Meeting held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The abstract of the meeting is as below:
1: 01. July . 2017, has been conclusively decided to be the date of implementation for the GST Regime by the GST Council.
2: A relaxation period has been provided for the assesses for ST return filing timeline for the month of July and August.
3: No late fees or penalties shall be charged for the said period.
4: As per the revised dates for filing the returns, GSTR 1, which reflects the sale invoices details, assesses will be able to file the same by September 5, against the earlier date being August 10.
5: In this regard, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “To obviate any grievance or any lack of preparedness, a slight relaxation of time for the first two months, that is, returns for the months of July and August, was discussed, and from September, the strict adherence to the time will go on. That means after relaxation, those who are not ready will have two and a half months to get ready. If somebody still says he is not ready then it is to his own detriment.”
6: Arun Jailey even said, in respect to the businesses registration about 65.6 lakh, or 81.1 per cent, of th existing 80.91 lakh Service Tax, Exise and VAT assesses, have been successfully migrated to the GST Network. The registration which were closed as on June 15, shall reopen on June 25.
7: A sigh of relief has been provided for the Hotel Industry by raising the threshold tariff for the 28% tax rate to Rs 7500 against the earlier limit of Rs. 5000.
8: Arun Jaitley even said, “After a lot of discussion (it was decided) that 28 per cent limit in hotels will start from Rs 7,500 which means that between Rs 2,500 and Rs 7500, the rate will be 18 per cent. It will be 28 per cent beyond Rs 7,500. Similarly, tax GST on restaurants in these hotels will be at par with other air conditioned restaurants which is 18 per cent".
9: Hon'le Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said, a two-year sunset clause for the anti-profiteering provision has been provided by the GST council.
10: Arun Jaitley even said, Anti-Profiteering provision was meant to be preventative. “I hope we are not compelled to use it" he added.
11: At the end Arun Jaitley confirmed, “The official launch of the GST will take place on the midnight of June 30 and July 1 at a function which will be organised in Delhi".