Post-disaster rehabilitation tax report to be finalised on 6 January

The group of ministers will deliberate on 2 options - either to allow a state afflicted by calamity to raise the rate of SGST, or to levy a nationwide tax irrespective of where the disaster has stuck

A panel headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi will meet on Sunday to finalise a report to mobilise revenues for post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction. The need for a special tax was felt after heavy losses in the Kerala floods of August last year.

The group of ministers (GoM) will deliberate on two options — either to allow a state afflicted by a calamity to raise the rate of the state goods and services tax (SGST) without changing the rate of the central GST (CGST), or to levy a nationwide tax irrespective of where the disaster has struck.