New Delhi: The 25th GST Council meet on Thursday, recommended rate cuts on 49 items, including zero percent on 29 handicraft products with its main focus on easing return filing processes.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed that the GST council will be meeting again via video conferencing before the Budget to finalise on the new return filing model presented by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder Infosys.

The Council did not reach a consensus regarding the new model and is likely to discuss the issues within states.

The E-way bill, which is scheduled to be rolled from February 1 in the budget session of the Parliament, was also discussed.

IGST credit worth Rs 35,000 crore will be passed on to states to improve liquidity. The Council also decided to keep GSTR 3B.

The meeting comes at a time when GST collections have come down. GST collections slipped for the second consecutive month to Rs 80,808 crore in November, down from over Rs 83,000 crore in the preceding month. The collections fell after the Council cut rates on as many as 178 items.

The GST Council on December 16 approved mandatory compliance of the E-Way Bill for the inter-state movement from February 1 to curb tax evasion, the trial run for which started on Monday.

In the 23rd GST Council meeting in November tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates, to beauty products, wigs and wrist watches, were cut to provide relief to consumers and businesses amid the economic slowdown.

178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28% to 18%, while a uniform 5% tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air-conditioned and non-AC.