How Many Members are There in The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council

Introduction

In the GST Council of India, there is a total of 33 Members. Out of those 33 members, two members are from the union, and the rest of the 31 members are from the States and Union Territories of India. The GST council is a government body that is responsible for the modifications, reconciliation, and accomplishment of the laws related to the Goods and Service Tax. The GST Council is a constitutional body and not a statutory body.

The process of setting up the GST council started when with the 126th amendment of the Constitution for the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2016. After the assent of the GST Bill, a meeting of the Union Cabinet held on 12th September 2016 approved setting up the GST council and its Secretariat. Following this then, Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley called the first meeting on the 22nd and 23rd of September 2016 in New Delhi.

Members of The GST Council

The GST council has the following participants, Union Finance Minister as Chairman. Currently (In 2023), the Chairman is Shri Nirmala Sitharaman. Union Minister of State in charge of revenue or Finance. Minister in fee of Finance or Taxation or another Minister, nominated by using the authorities of every state.

Please be aware that the Secretary of the sales branch works as Ex-authentic Secretary to the GST council. also, the Chairperson of the principal Board of Excise and Customs is an everlasting invitee in all of the conferences and proceedings of the GST council but does not keep any right to vote.

Aim of GST Council

The GST Council's aim is to develop a harmonized national market of goods and services. It recommends necessary adjustments and measures that want to be taken with the aid of the authorities to convey ease in the law and compliances and also to dispose of the ambiguities within the present legal guidelines. It conducts meetings from time to time to discuss and place its recommendations in front of the government.

The GST council can make its recommendations on the:

• Taxes, surcharges, and cess to be submitted under the GST

• Goods and services

• The baseline limit of turnover for the application of GST

• GST rates

• Creation and modification of GST laws, levy principles

• Special provisions for the eight northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh

• Any other related matter

The GST council can decide on the system for resolving the issues arising out of its recommendations. The GST council is also expected to decide when the GST would be levied on Natural Gas, Petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, aviation turbine fuel, and Petrol.

Decision-Making Process of GST Council

The decisions in the council can be made only if a three-fourth majority of the votes cast are in favour of the decision. One-third share of the total votes belongs to the Centre and two-thirds.
belong to the total of all the states together. Neither the states nor the centre alone can change the GST. For a meeting to be considered valid, at least 50% of the total members need to be present in the meeting. The power of the GST council is only recommendatory in nature.

Conclusion

With the introduction of the GST, the manufacturers and traders, big or small, are now able to set off input accumulated on Goods and services, which was earlier not available under the Service Tax, Excise Duty, and Value-Added Tax (VAT) regime. The decisions taken by the GST council have benefitted the industries in India, as the laws are made clear.