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GST Council Meet: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to fulfill her state counterparts on December 21
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to fulfill her state counterparts on December 21 for the fifty fifth GST Council meeting in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.
The Council was initially scheduled to fulfill in November. The delay is due to the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, after which the Winter Session of Parliament.
During the meeting, state finance ministers will present their options for the 2025-26 Budget to be tabled on February 1, 2025.
The Council may be extra prone to take up some rationalisation exercise routines and slash tax prices on various frequent objects from 12 per cent to 5 per cent as per the options of a panel of state ministers.
The value rationalisation objectives to elevate taxes on luxurious and sin gadgets and provide discount on vital objects. The Group of Ministers on value rationalisation, moreover headed by Choudhary, has Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and Rajasthan Medical and Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh as members.
Currently, GST is a four-tier tax building with slabs at 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent. Under GST, vital objects are each exempted or taxed on the bottom slab, whereas luxurious and demerit objects entice the perfect slab. Luxury and sin gadgets entice cess on excessive of the perfect 28 per cent slab. The widespread GST value has fallen beneath the revenue-neutral value of 15.3 %, prompting the need to start discussions on GST value rationalisation.
The group of ministers (GoM) on properly being and life insurance coverage protection GST, this October, broadly agreed on exempting insurance coverage protection premiums paid for time interval life insurance coverage protection insurance coverage insurance policies, and senior residents’ medical insurance coverage from GST.
In addition, GST on premiums paid by folks, aside from senior residents, for medical insurance coverage with safety of as a lot as Rs 5 lakh has moreover been proposed for an exemption. An 18 per cent GST will, nonetheless, proceed to be levied on premiums paid for insurance coverage insurance policies with medical insurance coverage cowl of over Rs 5 lakh.
