The forthcoming Goods and Services Tax Council meeting is going to propose inclusion of natural gas within the GST purview on an experimental basis, according to Joint Secretary, GST Council, Dheeraj Rastogi.
Speaking at a workshop on Levy of GST, supply, goods, services and time and place of supply – Analysis and open issues organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rastogi said that the inclusion of natural gas under GST will be one of the important points for deliberations for all State Finance Ministers.
According to a PHD statement, Rastogi said, “Petroleum is a considerably larger source of revenue not only for the Centre but also States, and on natural gas front, there is some consensus for bringing it within the GST ambit and therefore, it could be the first petroleum product that could come in well within the GST network.”
Rastogi also noted that aviation turbine fuel (ATF) would be another petroleum product that could also be brought within the GST ambit. But he did not prescribe a timeframe or probable GST rate for these products.
Hinting at a possible revision in the definition of supply under GST and their schedules, Rastogi said that several such initiatives are under the process of GST Council. Industry and trade are pressing for redefining supply on account of certain confusion and therefore, a decision and a clarification could be taken on this front.
He also indicated that a policy decision is likely to be taken for setting up centralised advance ruling authorities to address the issues relating to GST rather than keeping them confined to one particular state advance ruling authority.
In his theme presentation, Chairman, Indirect Taxes Committee, PHD Chamber, Bimal Jain, noted that the GST Council should redefine term supply under GST as this term is subjective, inclusive and wider.