NEW DELHI: The government has set up a seven-member panel of state ministers to look into rationalisation of tax rates and introducing a composition scheme under the goods and services tax for the real estate sector, according to a government release. The panel, set up in line with the GST Council’s conclusions at its last meeting on Jan 10, is headed by Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. The panel is tasked with examining and suggesting ways towards a composition scheme or any other scheme to boost the real estate sector. It will also “analyse tax rate of GST, including inter-alia issues/challenges in view of proposal for boosting the real estate sector under GST regime by providing a composition scheme for residential construction units”, it said. It will also look into the legality of inclusion or exclusion of land, among others, in composition and suggest a valuation mechanism.
Other members of the panel are Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Karnataka Finance Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal, and Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho. Currently, GST of 12 per cent is levied on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats for which a completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale. However, GST is not levied on real estate properties for which a completion certificate has been issued at the time of sale.
