The Centre will move the issue of bringing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the GST net for discussion in the next meeting of the GST Council.

When the GST was introduced on July 1, 2017, amalgamating over a dozen central and state levies, five commodities of crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel and ATF were kept out of its purview given the revenue dependence of the central and state governments on this sector.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a final decision of inclusion of ATF in GST will be taken by the Council, which comprises finance ministers from central and state governments.

Currently, the central government levies excise duty on ATF while state governments charge VAT. These taxes, with excise duty, in particular, have been raised periodically with rising oil prices.

GST Council

• Goods and Services Tax Council is a constitutional body for making recommendations to the Union and state governments on issues related to GST. 

• The GST Council is chaired by the Union finance minister.

• As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council, which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the states, shall consist of the following members:

a) The Union finance minister (chairperson).

b) The Union minister of state in charge of revenue or finance.

c) The minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other minister nominated by each state government.

Every decision of the GST Council shall be taken at a meeting, by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting, in accordance with the following principles:

• The vote of the central government shall have a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast, and

• The votes of all the state governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast.

The Council is empowered to make recommendations to the Union and the States on:

1) The taxes, cesses and surcharges levied by the Union, the States and the local bodies which may be subsumed in the goods and services tax.

2) The goods and services that may be subjected to, or exempted from the goods and services tax.

3) Model Goods and Services Tax Laws, principles of levy, apportionment of Integrated Goods and Services Tax and the principles that govern the place of supply.

4) The threshold limit of turnover below which goods and services may be exempted from goods and services tax.

5) The rates including floor rates with bands of goods and services tax.

6) Any special rate or rates for a specified period, to raise additional resources during any natural calamity or disaster.

7) Special provision with respect to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

8) The date on which GST shall be levied on petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas and aviation turbine fuel.

9) Any other matter relating to the goods and services tax, as the Council may decide.

The mechanism of GST Council would ensure harmonisation on different aspects of GST between the Centre and the states as well as amongst the states.

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