Q. With reference to the GST Council, consider the following statements:
1. Union Finance Minister and Chief Ministers of all states are members of the Council.
2. The Council can recommend the goods and services that may be exempted from GST.
3. The vote of the Central government has 50% weightage of the total votes in the Council.
How many statements given above are correct?
Exp) Option a is the correct answer
Statement 1 is incorrect. The GST Council is a federal body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform. It consists of the following members: Union Finance Minister Union Minister of State for finance The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members. Chief Ministers of all states are not members of the Council.
Statement 2 is correct. The Council is a joint forum of the Centre and the States. It is required to make recommendations to the Centre and the States on the following matters:
(a) The taxes, cesses and surcharges levied by the Centre, the States and the local bodies that would get merged in GST.
(b) The goods and services that may be subjected to GST or exempted from GST.
(c) The threshold limit of turnover below which goods and services may be exempted from GST.
Statement 3 is incorrect. As per the Constitution, in case of a voting, every decision of the GST Council has to be taken by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present. The vote of the central government has a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast, and the votes of all the state governments taken together have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast in that meeting.
