The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council fixed the turnover-based exemption limit from such levies at Rs 20 lakh in the first set of decisions, while the limit is Rs 10 lakh in the north-east region.

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that, "For GST, the exemption threshold is fixed at Rs 20 lakh. So those with a turnover of below Rs 20 lakh annually will be exempted from GST. With the north-east states, the exemption threshold is Rs 10 lakh."

The council also decided that exemption for assesses in the northeastern region and hill states will be Rs 10 lakh, Mr.Jaitley said.

According to the council chairman, the base year for compensation to states on the basis of which they will get a share of the GST revenue has been fixed as 2015-16.

"We have also decided that the compensation should be given at regular intervals to states," said the Council Chairman.

The council is scheduled to reconvene on September 30 and again from October 17-19. "All existing cesses will be subsumed in GST," Jaitley said.

"We will try to finalize the rates and the slabs during our meeting on October 17, 18 and 19," said the Finance Minister.

"Today, starting from September 22, we have roughly two months time till November 22 to resolve all the outstanding issues. Therefore, a draft timetable has been given, which also have been adopted," Jaitley had said after the first day of the council meeting.

On the issue of appointing a co-chair, the Finance Minister said: "Will elect the Vice Chairman at a subsequent date. The appointment for Vice Chairman can be done unanimously or by voting."

Also Read: GST Bill: India steps up for one nation, one tax!

Nandini