The GST Council, which met briefly through video-conference on Wednesday, will next be meeting on Sunday to take up real estate issues.
Meanwhile, the Council has extended the deadline to file 3B returns by two days. GSTR-3B is a monthly summary return.
“GST Council will take up the real estate issues on Sunday and the Council extends the deadline of 3B returns by two days,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced after Wednesday’s meeting.
In the brief meeting, the Council had differences over issues of housing and lotteries, and official sources said lotteries still have not reached a level where discussions can take place.
The real estate sector is looking for GST intervention to come out of the slump it is seeing over the past few years.
A Group of Ministers headed by Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, which has favoured 3 per cent tax, down from 8 per cent, on the affordable housing category has submitted its report to the GST Council for decision by Sunday.
During the interaction, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal pointed out that land is a state subject and so cannot be included in the GST, while the Bihar representative said it was in principle in agreement with the report, but wanted a lower rate of 1 per cent on small businesses operating from a 10 per cent carpet area in residential areas.
Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal as well as some states ruled by the opposition Congress asked for a physical meeting and not a video conference since the issues under consideration were too important.