7 reasons why GST Council meet on September 9 matters

The 54th GST Council meeting, chaired by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state ministers, will be held on September 9 to discuss crucial issues, including the potential rationalisation of tax rates.

While the meeting will discuss rationalisation of tax rates, a final decision on tweaking taxes and slabs will be taken later.

According to CNBC TV 18, citing government sources, the meeting is also likely to address the GST compensation cess. There is a strong possibility that the Centre may end back-to-back GST loans to states before March 2026.

Here’s a quick look at why the GST Council meet matters:

• The upcoming GST Council meeting will take up the issue of rate rationalisation.

• The meeting is likely to retain slabs under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) unchanged at 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent after Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary met last week and broadly converged on the issue

• The GST Council meeting will also examine the presentation on the implication of tinkering rates on some items after the GoM panel tasked the fitment committee - a group of tax officers - with the work

• The meeting is not expected to result in any changes to the tax treatment under the Unified Payments System (UPS).

• The meeting will also hold discussions on compensation cess on luxury and sin goods

• At the 53rd GST Council meeting on Saturday, Karnataka raised concerns about continuing the compensation cess levy, loan repayments, and future steps. Officials indicated that the government might repay the Rs 2.69 lakh crore borrowed for GST compensation by November 2025, ahead of the March 2026 deadline. The Council could discuss how to handle the cess distribution after November 2025

• The compensation cess, introduced for 5 years to cover states’ revenue shortfalls from GST, expired in June 2022. However, the collected funds are still being used to repay the Rs 2.69 lakh crore borrowed during COVID-19. The GST Council will now decide the future of the compensation cess, including its name and distribution methods, once the loans are repaid

With inputs from agencies