GST Council to meet on Tuesday, likely to take a call on taxing heavy utility vehicles, horse racing, online gaming

New Delhi, July 11

With the GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, all set to meet on Tuesday, it is expected to take a call on various issues like taxing online gaming, high-end vehicles, as well as horse racing and casino activities.

The Council is likely to clarify on the definition of multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) and crossover utility vehicles (XUVs) for levying 22 per cent compensation cess over and above the 28 per cent GST rate, sources said.

The Council's Fitment Committee, which consists of central as well as state tax officials, had recommended to the GST Council that MUVs and XUVs should be defined at par with sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for levying GST.

It had suggested that all such utility vehicles, irrespective of their nomenclature, should attract 22 per cent cess if they meet three parameters, namely length to be greater than 4 metres, engine capacity to be greater than 1,500 cc and ground clearance of more than 170 mm.

In December 2022, the GST Council had clarified on the definition of SUVs. However at that time, some states had sought a similar clarification for MUVs also.

Apart from this, the Fitment Committee had also suggested that integrated GST or IGST should be exempted on cancer medicine named Dinutuximab, which is imported by patients for personal use. As of now, there is 12 per cent IGST on it.

The Council is likely to take a decision on this too.

It may also discuss the long pending issue of imposing 28 per cent GST on online gaming, casinos and horse racing. Apart from this, setting up of a GST Tribunal and framing of their rules may also be taken up for discussion during the meeting, sources said.