The GST Council is likely to meet in Delhi on September 9 to advance discussions on long-pending issues, including rate rationalisation and the taxation of health insurance. The Council is expected to review the GST levy on services imported by Indian entities from offshore branches and consider proposals to reduce or eliminate the 18% tax rate on health insurance premiums, according to a Financial Express source.

The meeting may not address the contentious 28% GST levy on the online gaming industry, which was set for review six months after its enforcement in October 2023. Revenue from this levy has surged, with monthly collections rising from 250 crore to approximately Rs 1,150 crore, reducing the likelihood of a review, according to the source.

The issue of applying GST retrospectively to online gaming is currently under judicial review. Previously, online gaming companies were taxed 18% on gross gaming revenue for “games of skill” and 28% for “games of chance.” The current GST framework, introduced in October, taxes based on the full face value of bets, a higher base than gross gaming revenue.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, is examining rate rationalisation. The GoM is assessing whether commodities with similar characteristics have the same GST rates and considering reducing the number of GST slabs from four to three. However, the Council’s 54th meeting may not finalize these changes.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in June, had indicated that rate rationalisation will be a major agenda item for the upcoming meeting. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, in an interview, had suggested that a three-slab GST structure is a possibility.

The Council is also likely to address whether services imported from foreign branches by Indian firms should be taxed. This issue gained prominence following a Rs 32,400-crore notice issued to Infosys by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence for not paying GST on such services.

Additionally, the Council may consider whether to exclude health insurance premiums from GST.