In a separate chapter on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Fifteenth Finance Commission suggested a merger of the 12 per cent and 18 per cent GST slabs into one slab (perhaps 16 per cent). This recommendation spurred the government’s efforts in this direction. The Finance Minister announced that the GST Council could consider this at its next meeting.
The slab merger exercise should not only be limited to a reduction in the number of slabs but should form part of a larger exercise to raise the current 11.8 per cent incidence of GST duty to a revenue neutral rate
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