GST Council may take up rationalising tax rates, slab merger in next meet

15th Finance Commission has suggested merging 12 and 18% tax rates

The next Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting in March will likely take up rationalising tax rates and mergers of multiple slabs to bring them close to being revenue-neutral and make the indirect tax regime simpler.

The meeting, whose date is yet to be set, will come at a time when the 15th Finance Commission has recommended merging the 12 and 18 per cent tax rates.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed the government’s resolve to bring natural gas under GST.

However, officials said any such proposal depended on the approval of the states because some of them including Andhra Pradesh