Will petrol and diesel come under GST? Nirmala Sitharaman replies

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre wants to include petrol and diesel within Goods and Services Tax (GST) and it is upto states to decide.

“...At the moment, the intention of the GST as it was brought in by former finance minister Arun Jaitley is to have the petrol and diesel in GST," Sitharaman said in the post-meeting media briefing, ANI reported.

"It is up to the states to decide and come together and get petrol and diesel into GST. The intent of the Central Government is clear, we want the GST to include petrol and diesel,” she added.

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Petrol and diesel are not yet taxed under GST. Instead, these fuels, along with natural gas and ATF, are subject to VAT (Value-Added Tax), central excise duty, and central sales tax. Petrol and diesel prices vary from state to state.

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53rd GST Council meeting | Top decisions

• The GST on all kinds of carton boxes has been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 per cent. This reduction is especially beneficial for Himachal Pradesh's apple horticulturists and related industries.

• The meeting aimed to ease compliance burdens for small and medium taxpayers.

• A monetary limit has been set for tax department appeals: ₹20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, ₹1 crore for the High Court, and ₹2 crore for the Supreme Court. The tax department generally won't appeal if the amount is below these limits.

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• The maximum pre-deposit amount for filing an appeal has been reduced to ₹20 crore for both CGST and SGST.

• Services provided by Indian Railways, like platform tickets and retiring rooms, are exempted from GST.

• Hostel accommodation services outside educational institutions are exempt from GST if the cost is up to ₹20,000. It is meant for students or working class and exemption can be availed only if the stay is up to 90 days.

Saturday's Council meeting was held after a gap of eight months. The 52nd GST Council meeting took place on October 7.