46th GST Council meet on Dec 31: Members to discuss rate rationalisation, textile hike

The 46th GST Council meeting will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, December 31, in Delhi.

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New Delhi: The 46th Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meet will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, December 31, in Delhi. The members are expected to discuss the report of the panel of state ministers on rate rationalisation, proposed GST hike in textile, among other things.  

The members will meet in person to discuss correction in duty inversion in certain goods. The meeting will be an extension to the pre-budget meeting of the Finance Minister with state finance ministers on December 30.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation is expected to submit a report to the Council. The panel was tasked to review items under the inverted duty structure to help minimise refund payout.

Moreover, the Fitment committee has proposed several recommendations to the GoM regarding slab and rate changes. The committee, which includes tax officers from states and the Centre, has also recommended taking a few items out of the exemption list, PTI reported. 

For those unversed, GST is a four-tier slab structure in which products are taxed 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. All the essential products are either exempted or taxed at 5%, while luxury or demerit items attract the highest slab at 28 per cent. Some products also attract an additional cess on luxury and demerit goods. 

Meanwhile, the GST Council is likely to hear the demands for merging the 12 and 18 per cent slabs and the request to take out certain products from the exempt category to improve the revenues. 

Also, there has been a demand for rolling back the proposed hike in textile from 5 per cent to 12 per cent.  West Bengal's former finance minister Amit Mitra said that the hike would lead to the closure of around one lakh textile units and 15 lakh job losses. Also Read: RBI flags Omicron threat to growth; says banks strong enough to face challenges

Several industry players and groups have also opposed the rise in tax from five per cent/ They says that higher compliance costs will make the poor man's clothing expensive. Also Read: Apple engineers are receiving surprise bonuses of up to $180,000, here’s why