INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
GST | (Photo: Shutterstock)2 min read Last Updated : Sep 22 2024 | 4:33 PM IST
The ministerial panel on GST rate rationalisation will
meet on September 25 and is expected to discuss tweaking of tax slabs and rates.
"The meeting of the GoM on rate rationalisation is
scheduled for September 25 in Goa," an official told PTI.
The six-member Group of Minister (GoM) under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat
Chaudhary, last met on August 22 and had submitted a status report to the GST Council on September 9.
During the August meeting, the panel
had tasked the fitment committee comprising tax officers from the Centre and states to analyse the implication of tax rate change on some
cent.
Under GST, essential items are either exempted or taxed at the lowest slab, while luxury and demerit items attract the highest slab
Luxury and sin goods attract cess on top of the highest 28 per cent slab.
There have been talks of merging the 12 and 18 per cent tax
slabs, but nothing has been proposed so far.
Around 12 per cent, the average GST rate has fallen below the revenue neutral rate of 15.3
This has prompted the need to start discussions on GST rate rationalisation.
States such as West Bengal and Karnataka were not in favour
of tinkering with GST slabs for now.
West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya had said after the GoM meet in August, "I have
said there should be no changes in the GST slab".
Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had said the GoM has to analyse whether
there is need to "disturb" the GST system, which has now broadly stabilised.
"What do you achieve by disturbing it
We said in next meeting we will discuss it (reducing slabs)," Byre Gowda had said.
The six-member GoM also includes Uttar Pradesh Finance
Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Rajasthan Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh, and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.(Only the
headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a
syndicated feed.)First Published: Sep 22 2024 | 4:33 PMIST
