Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. File
| Photograph Credit score: H.VIBHU
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is prone to meet her State counterparts on December 21-22 for pre-budget consultations and assembly of the GST Council, an official mentioned.
The assembly assumes significance as State Finance Ministers will current their suggestions for the 2025-26 Finances to be unveiled on February 1, 2025.
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The fifty fifth GST Council assembly could be held throughout certainly one of these two days by which the much-awaited choice on exemption or decrease GST charge on well being and life insurance coverage could be taken.
The Council may take up some rationalisation train and scale back tax charges on a number of frequent objects from 12% to five% as per the suggestions of a panel of State Ministers.
Additionally Learn: No friction between Centre-States on GST; federal construction must be revered: Nirmala Sitharaman
“The 2-day assembly is slated to happen in Rajasthan, both in Jaisalmer or Jodhpur,” the official added.
Final month, the group of ministers (GoM) on well being and life insurance coverage GST broadly agreed on exempting insurance coverage premiums paid for time period life insurance coverage insurance policies, and senior residents’ medical health insurance from GST.
Additionally, GST on premiums paid by people, apart from senior residents, for medical health insurance with protection of as much as Rs 5 lakh is proposed to be exempted. Nevertheless, 18 per cent GST will proceed on premiums paid for insurance policies with medical health insurance cowl of over ₹5 lakh.
The GST Council in its 54th assembly on September 9 had tasked the GoM to finalise the report on GST levy on insurance coverage by October-end.
Individually, the GoM on GST charge rationalisation has additionally prompt that the GST Council rejig tax charges on a number of products, together with packaged ingesting water, bicycles, train notebooks, luxurious wristwatches, and sneakers. This charge rejig is anticipate to end in income acquire of about ₹22,000 crore.
The GoM on charge rationalisation proposed lowering GST on packaged ingesting water of 20 litre and above to five% from 18%. If the GoM’s suggestion is accepted by the GST Council, GST on bicycles costing lower than ₹10,000 will probably be decreased to five% from 12%.
Additionally, GST on train notebooks will probably be decreased to five% from 12%. The GoM additionally proposed climbing GST on sneakers above ₹15,000/pair from 18% to twenty-eight%. It additionally proposed climbing GST on wristwatches costing above ₹25,000 from 18% to twenty-eight%.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary is the convenor of the 13-member GoM on well being and life insurance coverage and 6-member GoM on charge rationalisation.
Presently, GST is a four-tier tax construction with slabs at 5, 12, 18, and 28%. Below GST, important objects are both exempted or taxed on the lowest slab, whereas luxurious and demerit objects entice the best slab. Luxurious and sin items entice cess on high of the best 28% slab. The common GST charge has fallen beneath the revenue-neutral charge of 15.3%, prompting the necessity to begin discussions on GST charge rationalisation.
Revealed – November 12, 2024 01:10 pm IST
