Finance minister Arun Jaitley has announced that the GST rate on 27 items has been reduced. The minister addressing a press conference after the 22nd GST council meet announced a slew of reforms.

Here are the key reforms announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley:

a) nGST rate on 27 items has been reduced
b) E-way bill to be implemented from April 1
c) Businesses with turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore have been allowed to file quarterly returns as against monthly filings
d) Compliance burden of medium and small taxpayers in GST is being cut; eligibility of Composition Scheme has been raised to Rs 1 crore
e) E-wallet for exporters will start from April 1, 2018
f) Tax refunds of July and August for exporters will be processed from October 10
g) The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, at its 22nd meeting reached consensus on increasing composition threshold for SMEs, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu said.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said exporters will get IGST relief and e-wallet facility for six months. The GST Council has also constituted a panel to consider rationalising GST rate for restaurants, he added.