The 55th Meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was held on 21st December, 2024 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs.
Key Recommendations & Decisions:
- Insurance Premium Relief: The Group of Ministers (GoM) on life and health insurance presented progress on reducing or exempting GST on individual health insurance policies and senior citizen coverage.
- Waiver Scheme under Section 128A: Clarified procedures and timelines for waiver of interest and penalty for demand notices issued under Section 73 for FY 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20.
- Biometric-Based Aadhaar Authentication: Rollout accelerated across multiple states to curb fake registrations and fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) pass-through.
- Co-insurance and Reinsurance Clarifications: Clarified taxability of co-insurance premium sharing between lead insurer and co-insurer as well as ceding commission in reinsurance.
- Trade Facilitation: Simplification of refund mechanisms for inverted duty structure and streamlined dispute resolution before the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).