The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Service Tax (GST) will meet in New Delhi today. It will deliberate on the revenue neutral rate, besides other issues, for smooth roll out of the GST. The committee is headed by Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani.The Centre proposes to roll out the GST by April next year. The Constitution Amendment Bill for roll out of GST has been referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee, while the Lok Sabha cleared the Bill in the last Session. Touted as the single biggest indirect tax reform since independence, the GST will subsume various levies like excise duty, service tax, entry tax and octroi.Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the GST would be a win-win situation for both the Centre and the States.The Constitution Amendment Bill also provides for levy of one percent additional tax for two years by the manufacturing states for inter-state transfer of goods. Under the provisions of the Bill, petroleum goods will be part of the GST but they will be levied at zero rate, implying that the states will continue to levy VAT while Centre will levy excise duty for initial few years. Thereafter, the levy on petroleum products will be fully subsumed in the GST on a date to be decided by the GST Council. The Council will have two-third members from the states and the remaining from the Centre. The states, however, will continue to levy taxes on alcohol as is the practice now.