50th GST Council meeting: FM Nirmala Sitharaman releases special cover, customised myStamp; check pics here   

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday released a special cover and customised myStamp on the occasion of the 50th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting. Chief Post Master General, Delhi Circle presented the special cover and the customised myStamp to Sitharaman. The Finance Ministry confirmed the development in a tweet.  

The Finance Ministry tweeted images from the event and wrote: “On the occasion of the 50th meeting of the GST Council, Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman releases a Special Cover and customised myStamp. The Special Cover and customised myStamp was presented to the Union FM Smt. @nsitharaman by the Chief Post Master General, Delhi Circle @IndiaPostOffice”.  

According to the text on the customised myStamp, GST “replaced multiple indirect taxes levied by the Centre and the States with a single tax”. It further said the introduction of GST reduced the cascading effects of taxation and improved the ease of doing business in India.  

The myStamp also stated that GST also ushered in uniformity in tax rates across India, simplification of tax compliance procedures, and increased transparency. Finance Minister Sitharaman also released a short film titled GST Council- 50 Steps Towards A Journey on the occasion.  

The 50th GST Council meeting began at 11:00 am today at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The GST Council will look into new taxation rates on online gaming, definition of multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), and expanding regulations for registration and claiming input tax credit (ITC).  

The council may also decide on new taxes for food and beverages sold in multiplexes, import rates of cancer drug Dinutuximab and food for special medical purposes (FSMP) used for treating rate diseases. Medicines costing Rs 36 lakh may be exempted from taxation. Tax rates on millets are also likely to be lowered. 

Besides this, the council is also expected to work on the process of setting up the GST Appellate Tribunal, a long pending demand of the industry. The tribunal, which was decided to be set up in the last meeting, will likely be in place by year-end. The GST Appellate Tribunal is aimed at streamlining GST jurisprudence and helping taxpayers address their GST related grievances.  

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