GST is a tax that is levied on the purchase of any item. Things that are essential are taxed less, and things that are expensive or harmful are taxed more. This tax is the same across the country, which has made the tax system easier.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rationalization of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates will meet on September 25. Changes in tax slabs and rates (GST Rates in 2024) may be discussed in the meeting. An official told PTI that the meeting will be held in Goa on September 25. The six-member Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary last met on August 22 and submitted a status report to the GST Council on September 9.
During the August meeting, the GoM had tasked the Fitment Committee, comprising tax officials from the Centre and states, to analyse the impact of the GST rate change on certain items and collect more data.
GST is a tax that is levied on the purchase of something. Things that are essential are taxed less, and things that are expensive or harmful are taxed more. This tax is the same across the country, which has made the tax system easier. Currently there are four main GST slabs (GST slabs in India 2024) with rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
Under GST, essential goods are either exempted or placed in lower tax slabs, while expensive and harmful goods are taxed in the highest slab. These attract a cess of 28 per cent over and above the slab.
There have been talks of merging the 12 and 18 per cent tax slabs of GST, but no proposal has come through yet. At around 12 per cent, the average GST rate has fallen below the revenue neutral rate of 15.3 per cent. This has given rise to the need to initiate discussions on GST rate rationalisation.
States like West Bengal and Karnataka are currently not in favour of changes in the GST slabs. After the Group of Ministers meeting in August, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya had said, "I have said that there should be no change in the GST slabs."
Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had said the group of ministers had to analyse whether there was a need to tamper with the GST system, which has now largely stabilised. He had said, "What will you gain by disturbing it? We said we will discuss it (reducing the slabs) in the next meeting."
Let us tell you that the six-member ministerial group also includes Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Rajasthan Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh and Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal.
