<p>A group of ministers, tasked by the Goods and Services Tax Council to look into rate rationaliation, hasn't taken a view on the issue yet, an official source said.</p>.<p>The seven-member GoM (Group of Ministers), which is led by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai and includes finance ministers from West Bengal, Kerala Goa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan as members, is likely to meet early next month.</p>.<p>The group hasn't taken up a proposal to raise the lowest or threshold slab under GST to 8 per cent from 5 per cent, said the source who wished not to be identified.</p>.<p>Any recommendation of the panel would be placed before the GST Council, headed by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and including representatives of all states and Union Territories, for a final decision.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/gst-council-may-do-away-with-5-rate-move-items-to-3-8-slabs-1101464.html" target="_blank">GST Council may do away with 5% rate; move items to 3% & 8% slabs</a></strong></p>.<p>No dates for the GST Council meeting have so far been announced but it is likely to meet in the second half of May.</p>.<p>With the inflation rate spiking in recent months, policymakers will take a hard look at any change in GST rates lest it fuels price rise, the source said.</p>.<p>The GST has a four-tier structure, consisting of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent rates. Additionally, there are special rates for some goods such as precious metals.</p>.<p>There was a thought in some quarters that the slab of 5 per cent may be broken into 3 per cent and 8 per cent, levying the lower tax rate on essential items.</p>.<p>But no view on rate rationalisation has yet been taken by the GoM, let alone the GST Council, the source said.</p>.<p>The call on tinkering with the rates is a political decision and the same will weigh when the GST Council takes a view on it, the source said.</p>.<p>The GST Council -- the highest decision-making body that was set up after more than a dozen central and state taxes such as excise duty and VAT was subsumed into a uniform nationwide levy -- had set up the GoM on rate rationalisation at its September 2021 meeting in Lucknow.</p>.<p>The group was asked to review the exempt goods to expand the tax base, suggest changes to simplify the rate structure and garner the required resources.</p>.<p><em><strong>Check out the latest DH videos here:</strong></em></p>
<p>A group of ministers, tasked by the Goods and Services Tax Council to look into rate rationaliation, hasn't taken a view on the issue yet, an official source said.</p>.<p>The seven-member GoM (Group of Ministers), which is led by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai and includes finance ministers from West Bengal, Kerala Goa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan as members, is likely to meet early next month.</p>.<p>The group hasn't taken up a proposal to raise the lowest or threshold slab under GST to 8 per cent from 5 per cent, said the source who wished not to be identified.</p>.<p>Any recommendation of the panel would be placed before the GST Council, headed by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and including representatives of all states and Union Territories, for a final decision.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/gst-council-may-do-away-with-5-rate-move-items-to-3-8-slabs-1101464.html" target="_blank">GST Council may do away with 5% rate; move items to 3% & 8% slabs</a></strong></p>.<p>No dates for the GST Council meeting have so far been announced but it is likely to meet in the second half of May.</p>.<p>With the inflation rate spiking in recent months, policymakers will take a hard look at any change in GST rates lest it fuels price rise, the source said.</p>.<p>The GST has a four-tier structure, consisting of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent rates. Additionally, there are special rates for some goods such as precious metals.</p>.<p>There was a thought in some quarters that the slab of 5 per cent may be broken into 3 per cent and 8 per cent, levying the lower tax rate on essential items.</p>.<p>But no view on rate rationalisation has yet been taken by the GoM, let alone the GST Council, the source said.</p>.<p>The call on tinkering with the rates is a political decision and the same will weigh when the GST Council takes a view on it, the source said.</p>.<p>The GST Council -- the highest decision-making body that was set up after more than a dozen central and state taxes such as excise duty and VAT was subsumed into a uniform nationwide levy -- had set up the GoM on rate rationalisation at its September 2021 meeting in Lucknow.</p>.<p>The group was asked to review the exempt goods to expand the tax base, suggest changes to simplify the rate structure and garner the required resources.</p>.<p><em><strong>Check out the latest DH videos here:</strong></em></p>