Will health insurance be exempt from GST? Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says THIS | Business News

GST Reduction on Health Insurance: A group of ministers has been tasked with examining GST rates related to health insurance and preparing a report by October so that the GST Council can take up the matter at the November meeting. “There were a lot of discussions on whether we should reduce the rate or exempt it, who should we exempt and who should we not, what about group insurance; are we going to exclude only senior citizens? Won’t this complicate the implementation?” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after an hours-long GST Council meeting on Monday.

Sitharaman said that many issues were raised today for further discussion in the GST Council, adding that this is why they felt it should go through a rigorous scrutiny by the Government of Myanmar. It will be the Government of Myanmar rate rationalisation council headed by the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, but with new members added for this limited purpose.

“We have told them that they will look into this matter and come up with a report by the end of October 2024. The GST Council, which will meet in November, will take a final decision based on this report which will come from the Malaysian government,” he added.

Both life insurance and health insurance premiums attract a GST rate of 18 per cent. Recently, many leaders from opposition-ruled states have requested Finance Minister Sitharaman to reduce GST on health insurance and premiums.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the central government to withdraw the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on life and health insurance premiums, terming taxation of such items as “anti-people.” During the recently concluded Parliament session, leaders of the INDIA alliance staged a protest against the central government outside Parliament, demanding removal of GST on health and life insurance products.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also joined the protest. In this context, Sitharaman had asked members to write to the finance minister of their respective states so that it could be taken up in the GST Council meeting. Speaking about the suggestions of many opposition members to reduce GST on health insurance premiums, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that taxes were imposed on such items even before the GST regime came into effect in 2017.

The GST Council, comprising the Union Finance Minister and representatives from all states and Union Territories, was set up to take decisions on various aspects of GST, including tax rates, exemptions and administrative procedures. The GST regime was introduced to remove the inefficiencies and complexities of the earlier archaic tax system.

Over the years, GST has, among other things, simplified compliance and reduced the cascading impact of taxes. Prior to July 1, 2017, the indirect tax regime was highly fragmented. Goods and services were taxed separately by the central government and the states. The GST Council, a federal body, comprises the Union Finance Minister as its Chairman and the Finance Ministers of the states and Union Territories.



Source link

Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.

Leave a Comment