All GST compensation dues worth Rs 16,982 crore will be cleared, announces Nirmala Sitharaman

"We have announced today that the entire due on the pending balance of the GST compensation will be cleared as of today," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the GST Council meeting.  

After a meeting of the council that sets GST rates, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced that the government will clear the entire goods and services tax, or GST, compensation dues of Rs 16,982 crore from its own pocket today.

"We have announced today that the entire due on the pending balance of the GST compensation will be cleared as of today. In other words, the entire pending balance of the GST compensation - a total of Rs 16,982 crore - will be cleared," Sitharaman said.

She further said, "Although this amount is not really available in the compensation fund as of today, we have decided to release this amount from our own resources and the same amount will be recouped from the future compensation cess collection." 

She said that the funds will be released from the consolidated fund of India and recouped later.  She said that with this release, the Centre would clear the entire provisionally admissible compensation cess dues for 5 years as envisaged in the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.

The finance minister said that the GST Council will reduce GST on liquid jaggery, pencil sharpeners, and certain tracking devices.  Sitharaman further announced that the services supplied by courts and tribunals will be taxed under the reverse-charge mechanismand late fee for delayed filing of annual returns to be rationalised.