New Delhi: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary has been appointed as the convenor of the GoM on GST rate rationalisation.
According to an official memorandum posted on the GST Council secretariat website, the other members of the reconstituted panel are Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, Rajasthan Medical, and Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh.
The GoM also includes West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.
The seven-member GoM has been tasked with suggesting required rate rationalisation and correction of inverted duty structure with an objective of simplifying the rate structure, reviewing the GST exemption list and enhancing revenues from Goods and Services Tax (GST).
This is the second time that the GST rate rationalisation panel was reconstituted.
The GoM was originally set up in September 2021, under then Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Under his chairmanship, the panel had submitted an interim report to the GST Council in June 2022, proposing changes in tax rates for some goods and services to rationalise the levy.
Following the change in government in Karnataka after the assembly elections in May last year, Byre Gowda became the revenue minister. The rate rationalisation panel was then reconstituted in October last year, making UP Finance Minister Khanna as the convenor.
After JD(U)-BJP alliance formed the government in Bihar in January this year, the finance portfolio was given to the state Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, replacing Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
The reconstitution of the GoM on GST rate rationalisation was required so as to include Samrat Chaudhary in the panel.
The rate rationalisation panel will now have a task at hand to submit a final report to the GST Council suggesting changes in tax rates and slabs to usher in reforms.
Currently, the GST regime has five broad tax slabs of zero, 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent. A cess is levied over and above the highest 28 per cent rate on luxury and demerit goods.
