Important GST Updates and Announcements
The Finance Minister presented a transformative Union Budget on 23 July 2024 paving path on the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. On the GST front, the legislative amendments recommended in the 53rd GST Council meeting have been proposed in the Finance Bill. On the customs front, the budget has proposed several changes to support domestic manufacturing and promote exports. In addition, various changes have been made to the Customs Tariff to facilitate’ Make in India.’Key judicial pronouncements: The 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC), in a majority judgement, has held that royalty and dead rent do not qualify as taxes or impositions. This verdict has far-reaching consequences as numerous cases related to service tax and GST were previously stayed by due to pendency of SC decision. However, the SC has reserved the judgement with regard to its retrospective or prospective application which needs to be closely tracked.