In the meeting of the GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, an important decision has been taken to reduce the rate of GST on Covid related medicine and other essential items such as ambulance etc. The central government has reduced the different rates of GST on all these essential items as per the requirement. It is to be known that the GST Council has reduced the rates of GST on equipment and medicines used in Corona virus, their validity will remain till 30 September 2021.
Giving information about the decisions taken in the meeting of the GST Council, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the council has agreed to maintain the tax rate of five percent on vaccines. But at the same time the rate of GST on ambulances has been reduced from 28 per cent to 12 per cent. The rate of GST for temperature checking equipment has been reduced to five per cent.
The rate of anti-coagulants like Heparin and Remdesivir has gone up from 12 percent to five percent. In equipment, medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrators/generators (including personal imports), ventilators, ventilator masks/helmets, BiPAP machines and High Low Nasal Cannula (HFNC) devices, the GST rate has been reduced from 12 per cent to five per cent. Apart from this, the tax on Covid Testing Kits and Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits has also been increased to five per cent instead of 12 per cent.
In view of the increasing cases of black fungus in the country, the council has reduced the rate of GST on the drug Amphotericin B, which is used in its treatment, to zero. The government has reduced the tax rate on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B to zero. Earlier they were taxed at five per cent.
Economic activities have been affected by the second wave of Covid-19. The burden of inflation has also increased on the people. In such a situation, this year’s meeting under the leadership of the Finance Minister was very important. In this, a decision was taken to reduce the tax rate on items related to the Covid epidemic such as medicines, vaccines and medical devices.