GST rate rejig off the table for now

A proposed revision of goods and services tax (GST) rates, aimed at boosting revenue collections and fixing tax anomalies, is unlikely before the 2024 general elections, as the recent meeting of the GST Council did not reconstitute the key ministerial group responsible for examining the matter.

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

During the meeting, the Council did not name a replacement for former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who served as the convenor of the ministerial group established in September 2021 to restructure GST. The group’s mandate was to review tax exemptions to expand the number of taxpayers and recommend changes to tax rates and slabs to raise revenue collection, simplify the tax structure, and reduce tax refunds from the government owing to anomalies in the existing structure.

Following the change in government in Karnataka, with the Congress’s Siddaramaiah replacing Bommai as chief minister, a fresh appointment for the convenor of the ministerial group became necessary.