State and Territory treasurers are bringing the GST fight to Canberra.

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey dined in Canberra on Wednesday night with his state counterparts ahead of official talks on Thursday, which some states hope will end with them receiving a bigger slice of the GST pie.

Western Australia has some of the loudest gripes, arguing for years that it has been robbed of its fair share of GST due to horizontal fiscal equalisation - the formula that forces wealthier states to give up GST revenue to states with smaller, less robust economies.

The Barnett Coalition WA government claims says it will see a $4 billion drop in revenue from lower state mining royalties as a result of an ongoing iron ore slump.

Reports say that if the formula is changed to give WA a bigger share, Victoria would be the biggest loser. Fairfax media outlets say Victoria could lose up to $160 million if the formula is modified.

Queensland has been making similar arguments to WA, saying it too was left unfairly disadvantaged by resources downturn and the GST distribution formula.

Understandably, Victoria’s new Labor government Treasurer Tim Pallas wants to make sure the state does not receive any less, even arguing that the current carve-up is unsatisfactory.

Mr Pallas described the WA Government as “professional mendicants” in an interview with ABC radio on Thursday, saying that the state “shouldn't use…the GST as economic ballast for one-off smoothing arrangement”.

Insiders say the formula for calculating the relative wealth of states in term of commodity prices could be altered, with hints that the three-year period over which that income is measured would be changed.

Before the recent NSW state election, Mr Hockey was asked about Labor’s claims that an unreleased GST distribution report had would see the state lose $200 million in favour of WA.

“I don't think New South Wales has anything to worry about as a general principle, particularly after the election of the Baird government,” Mr Hockey said this week.

NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian told Fairfax she was “looking forward to discussing a range of issues with the Treasurer in Canberra... and that includes ensuring New South Wales gets its fair share of GST revenue”.

But GST will not be the only topic at the treasurers’ summit, with federal infrastructure funding and deregulation on the agenda too.

“A key part of [deregulation] will be trying to have the Commonwealth join with the states in recognising the role that structural reform plays in promoting growth and through that providing benefits to the whole economy,” Treasury Secretary John Fraser said.