GST Council Meeting

Finance Minister @arunjaitley chairs the 23rd #GST Council meeting, at Guwahati

NEW DELHI: The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is huddling for its 23rd meeting on November 9 and 10 at Guwahati. In the lead up to the meeting, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also a member of the GST council, on Wednesday said tax rates on 80 per cent items of top 28 per cent slab are likely to be slashed. "Tax rates on 80 per cent of 227 items falling in top slab is likely to be reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent in the next GST council meeting. The GST fitment committee has also recommended reducing tax rates from 18 per cent to 12 per cent on a number of goods", he said. "So far, tax rates have been slashed on more than 100 items", he added.



Reports suggest that in a push to digital payments, the GST Council may consider providing incentives in the GST regime for payments that are settled electronically. Under the proposal, benefits in terms of credit or exemption could be provided within central and state GST to encourage such transactions. A merchant could, for instance, get credit for digital payments that can be adjusted against GST liabilities. Consumers, on the other hand, could be incentivised through lower tax when payments are made digitally.