Business News : Ahead of the crucial GST Council meeting on September 9, a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on rationalisation of GST rates is going to be held today. This will be the first meeting of this group of ministers from 7 states. The convener of this meeting is Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. Other members attending it are West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Kerala Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, Rajasthan Doctors and Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh.

The GST Council had assigned the task to a group of ministers in June.

The ministers' meeting to be held today will review the progress made so far and the future course of action. The GST Council in its last meeting in June had tasked the group of ministers to submit a draft report on the steps taken for rationalisation of GST rates. This will include the status of work done so far by the committee and the pending work. The group of ministers has been tasked to suggest required rate rationalisation and reforms in the inverted duty structure to simplify the GST rate structure, reviewing the GST exemption list and enhancing revenue from GST. 

At present, there are 5 different tax slabs in the GST system

The current GST system has 5 different tax slabs of 0, 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent. Cess is levied on luxury and demerit items (tobacco, alcoholic beverages, etc.) in addition to the highest GST of 28 percent. The GST Council will discuss the further strategy to rationalize the GST rate in its 54th meeting on September 9. The GST Council, which consists of the finance ministers of the Center and the states, is the biggest decision-making body regarding GST. It has been working since July 1, 2017.