Covid-19 vaccines: GST Council to take a call on tax rate cut today

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is expected to announce its decision on the proposed tax rate cut on Covid-19 essentials like vaccines, oxygen concentrators, diagnostic test kits, etc later today. According to the government officials, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address the media at 2.30 pm on the decisions taken by the Council.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Saturday chair the meeting of the GST Council, which is expected to decide on tax relief for COVID-19 essentials and black fungus medicine. According to the schedule, the meeting begins at 11 am and the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur along with finance ministers and senior officials of states and union territories (UT) are participating in the meeting. Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to brief the media on the outcomes at 2.30 pm.

The Council will discuss the report of the Group of Ministers, headed by Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on GST concessions on COVID-19 relief items like medical grade oxygen, pulse oximeters, hand sanitisers and ventilators, among others. Besides, GoM also looked into vaccines, drugs and medicines for COVID-19 treatment and testing kits for its detection. Some state finance ministers in the GoM are understood to have pitched for a rate cut on COVID-19 essentials.

UP Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, who is also a member of the GoM, had on Wednesday said the state is in favour of cutting taxes on COVID-19 essentials to facilitate patients, but will accept the decision of the GST Council on tax rates. The GST Council in its previous meeting on May 28 left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether the tax cut benefits will reach the common man. The GoM was set up to recommend rates for COVID-19 essentials.

The Congress party- and other Opposition-ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. Currently, 5 per cent GST is levied on domestically manufactured vaccines, while it is 12 per cent for COVID-19 drugs and oxygen concentrators. In the meeting on May 28, GST was exempted on import of Amphotericin B, a medicine used for the treatment of black fungus.

(With PTI Inputs)