(): With pressure on revenue collection, the goods and services tax (GST) rates and slabs may be raised during the GST Council meeting next week. The all-powerful GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is set to meet on December 18 in the backdrop of lower-than-expected GST collection and pending compensation to many states. As of now, there are four slabs under the GST regime — 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Goods and services under the 28 per cent category also attract cess over and above the rate, which ranges between 1 and 25 per cent.
A group of officers from the Centre and states, which met on Tuesday to finalise recommendations for rate rationalisation, is said to have considered various options including raising rates from 5 per cent to 8 per cent and 12 per cent to 15 per cent, sources said.
The GST Council meeting is also likely to deliberate on raising cess on some products to meet the growing need of compensation, among other issues. The Council can explore possibility of merger of slabs to bring down the number of slabs to three. It is likely to revisit exemption list and explore whether cess can be levied on some services, sources said.