Key Points:
- On Saturday, the GST Council made a decision on cutting down the rates of quite a few Covid-relief items.
- Sitharaman said that the council has also decided to stick to the 5% GST rate on the COVID-19 vaccines and that there will be no changes in this GST rate.
On Saturday, the GST Council made a decision on cutting down the rates of quite a few Covid-relief items. The previous rates were almost 12%-18% but that council reduced it to 5%. But, the tax on the Covid-19 vaccines was kept unchanged at 5%.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the press after the GST Council meeting and said that the recommendations of Group of Ministers (GoM) were considered by the council which was also a single point agenda on the council.
Sitharaman also said that the council has also decided to stick to the 5% GST rate on the COVID-19 vaccines and that there will be no changes in this GST rate.
Giving more details of the meet, the FM said that 4 categories of the products gave been decided – Medicines, Oxygen and Oxygen-Generation Equipment, Testing Kits and Other Machines and other COVID-19 related relief material.
Major Decision in the GST Council:
* Tax on Medicines, Oxygen and Oxygen-Generation Equipment, Testing Kits and Other Machines and other COVID-19 related relief material has been revised;
* Centre will buy the 75 % vaccine as announced and will pay GST on it too. But 70 per cent of income from GST will be shared with states, Sitharaman said.
0% GST
* Tocilizumab and Black Fungus Drug Amphotericin B
5% GST
* Medical Grade oxygen, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, BiPAP machines and high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) devices;
* Covid testing kits;
* Pulse oximeters, hand sanitisers and temperature check equipment;
* Electric furnaces and temperature checking equipment;
* Covid-19 Vaccines;
* D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin, LDH kits.
12% GST
* Ambulances
* Genome sequencing kits
The state deadline was September 30 which maybe extended as per the inputs of the state plus the recommendations of the GST implementation committee after eliciting opinions.
