GST rate panel revamp in focus with Goa CM Pramod Sawant joining committee

The convenorship of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the goods and services tax rate rationalisation may have to change hands with Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant joining the committee. The group is currently led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. Two weeks ago, Sawant replaced Mauvin Godinho, the transport minister of Goa on the rate rationalization panel. Separately, Sawant was recently appointed as convenor of another GoM to enhance the real estate sector under the GST regime. However, it is not yet clear if a decision to change the convenorship of the rate rationalisation GoM has been taken. Sources say protocol would mean that a chief minister head the group instead of a deputy chief minister. The matter assumes importance given that the rate rationalisation panel is scheduled to meet in the next couple of weeks. “Substantial work has happened with the rate rationalisation panel. During the 54th GST Council, the panel will present the report on the status of work that has already been done,” union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the last GST meeting at Delhi. The official memorandum on the GST Council Secretariat website lists Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and Rajasthan Medical and Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh as other members of the reconstituted panel. The GoM was initially established in September 2021 under then Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Bommai’s leadership saw the panel submit an interim report in June 2022, recommending changes in tax rates to rationalize the GST levy. Following the change in government in Karnataka after the May 2023 assembly elections, Byre Gowda took over as revenue minister, leading to another reconstitution of the panel in October 2023 with UP Finance Minister Khanna as the convener. The 54th GST Council meeting, now likely to be held in the second half of August, is expected to commence discussions on rate rationalization.