GST Council Plans To Raise 5 Per Cent Tax Slab To 8 Per Cent, Says Report

As part of rationalisation, the GoM is also looking at a 3-tier GST structure, with rates at 8, 18, and 28 per cent

New Delhi: As the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council looks to raise revenues and do away with states’ dependence on Centre for compensation, the tax body in its next meeting may look at raising the lowest tax slab to 8 per cent from the current 5 per cent, quoting sources, the PTI has reported. The council may also prune the exemption list in the GST regime.

A committee of state finance ministers may submit its report by end of March to the council suggesting various steps to raise revenue, including raising the lowest slab and rationalising the slab.

At present, the GST operates in a four-tier structure – a tax rate of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent, and 28 per cent.

However, as part of rationalisation, the GoM is also looking at a 3-tier GST structure, with rates at 8, 18, and 28 per cent. If the proposal is implemented, all the goods and services which are currently taxed at 12 per cent, will move to 18 per cent slab.

According to the present GST structure, 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. This cess collection is used to compensate states for the revenue loss due to GST roll-out.

According to the sources, the group of ministers (GoM) may propose raising the 5 per cent slab to 8 per cent, which may yield an additional Rs 1.50 lakh crore annual revenues.

According to calculations, 1 per cent increase in the lowest slab, which mainly include packaged food items, results in a revenue gain of Rs 50,000 crore annually. Besides, the GoM would also propose reducing the number of items which are exempted from the GST. Currently, unpackaged and unbranded food and dairy items are exempted from the GST.

Sources said the GST council is expected to meet later this month or early next month and discuss the report of the GoM and take a view on the revenue position of the states.

With the GST compensation regime coming to an end in June, it is imperative that states become self-sufficient and not depend on the Centre for bridging the revenue gap in GST collection.

At the time of GST implementation on July 1, 2017, the Centre had agreed to compensate states for 5 years till June 2022, and protect their revenue at 14 per cent per annum over the base year revenue of 2015-16. However, over this 5-year period due to reduction in GST on several items, the revenue neutral rate has come down from 15.3 per cent to 11.6 per cent.

One of the sources said, “As the revenue neutral rate has come down and the states stare at a shortfall of about Rs 1 lakh crore, efforts have to be made to make GST revenue neutral and the only way to do it, is rationalise the tax slab and check evasion.”

The council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and states’ finance ministers, had last year set up a panel of state ministers, headed by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, to suggest ways to augment revenue by rationalising tax rates and correcting anomalies in tax rates.