The goods and services tax (GST) Council is all set to meet today after a span of seven months. There are reports that some opposition ruled states could pitch for an extension of the GST compensation regime for five more years beyond 2022.

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Sources say that the Council is expected to discuss the compensation shortfall, which is estimated at Rs 1.6 lakh crore for the current fiscal, and is likely to be funded by borrowings this year as well. The Council may also discuss lowering taxes on COVID related products.

Amit Mitra, who has retained the West Bengal finance portfolio despite not contesting polls, has pushed for "zero-rated tax" on COVID essentials. The meeting comes at a time when the advent of the second COVID wave and strict restrictions across states have put further pressure on state coffers.

Tomorrow's meeting would also mark the debut of 5 new members. Finance ministers of Assam, Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu would be attending their first-ever GST Council meeting. Puducherry Chief Minister Rangaswamy would be making his debut as well.

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan earlier this month, prior to being appointed to represent the state at the GST Council, hit out at the lack of cooperative federalism in the Council and criticised Centre for using the force majeure clause to buttress its proposal of borrowing to make up for the compensation cess shortfall.

TS Singh Deo, who represents Chhattisgarh in the Council, Mauvin Godinho, Goa's representative in the Council; Praveen Chakravarty, political economist and chairman of the Congress Data Analytics Department; Tax Expert Rohan Shah and Pratik Jain, Partner, Price Waterhouse & Co; discussed the expectations from the 43rd meeting of the GST council.

For the entire discussion, watch the accompanying video

(Edited by : Bivekananda Biswas)

First Published:May 27, 2021 6:02 PM IST