NEW DELHI: GST Council’s 47th meeting is likely to be held next month as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going for a 10-day trip to the US for World Bank-IMF meet this month, as per sources in the know.
Earlier, the meeting was scheduled for this month but due to FM’s other commitments, the meeting had to be postponed to next month. According to the sources, the meeting will likely take place in Shillong, Meghalaya as planned earlier.
In the next GST Council meeting, compensation issue will likely be taken up as many non-BJP States are pressing for the extension of the GST compensation mechanism for beyond five years ending in June 2022. Under the law, the Centre has committed to compensate states bi-monthly for any shortfall in their revenue due to implementation of the GST regime for the first five years beginning July, 2022.
“The State compensation issue will be taken up in the next GST Council meeting. If any consensus is formed on the extension beyond 5 years, then the constitutional amendment is required which then would be taken up in the next Parliamentary session,” a Government official who is familiar with the matter told The New Indian Express.
Besides this, as per sources, a merger of 5% and 12% slab rates may also be discussed in the next meeting. “The items falling under both the slab rates may be merged under the 8% category. Also, many items which come under the 12% category are being considered to be moved under 18%,” the official added. However, they said the decision on the merger of slabs is unlikely in the upcoming meet as the situation is very volatile at this juncture because of inflation and other geopolitical tensions.