The GST Council has constituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) for revenue mobilization in case of natural calamities/disasters.
In pursuance of the decision taken in the 5th GST Council meeting held on 21.12.2024, a Group of Ministers (GoM) is constituted to examine the legal and structural issue and recommend uniform policies on imposition of levy of cess in case of natural disasters/calamities in the State.
The GoM shall consist of the following members:
Here’s a neatly formatted table based on the image:
| S.No. | Name | Designation and State | Position |
| 1. | Shri Suresh Kumar Khanna | Hon’ble Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Affairs, Uttar Pradesh | Convenor |
| 2. | Smt. Ajanta Neog | Hon’ble Minister for Finance, Women and Child Development, Assam | Member |
| 3. | Shri Om Prakash Choudhary | Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Chhattisgarh | Member |
| 4. | Shri Kanubhai Desai | Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Energy, Gujarat | Member |
| 5. | Shri K N Balagopal | Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Kerala | Member |
| 6. | Shri Premchand Aggarwal | Hon’ble Finance Minister, Uttarakhand | Member |
| 7. | Smt. Chandrima Bhattacharya | Hon’ble Minister of Finance, West Bengal | Member |
The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the GoM are as follows:-
- Examine the Constitutional and legal feasibility for levy of a special cess by States for revenue mobilization in case of natural calamity or disasters.
- Examine and identify the framework to be used to classify an event as a natural calamity or disaster for the purpose of levy of such special Cess by States under the GST regime.
- Examine whether the special cess should be restricted to some specific sectors or should be levied across sectors.
- Examine whether the levy of such special cess should be on B2B supplies only or B2C supplies only or both; and whether the said special cess should be applicable on supplies under Reverse Charged Mechanism (RCM), keeping in mind that taxes are not reported in inter-state supplies.
- Examine the rate structure and time duration for which the said special cess should be levied.
- Examine whether levy of cess on SGST for special purpose will be in consonance of the objective of GST Act particularly “One Nation One Tax”.Â
- Examine whether any alternate mechanism can be devised for helping States in case of a natural disaster without altering the basic structure of GST.
