The GST Council meeting was presided over by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who announced that the GST rates for certain cancer medications had been lowered from 12% to 5%.for Monday, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, said that the GST Council had chosen to lower the prices for a few cancer medications. She added that at their next meeting in November, the council will decide whether to lower the premium for medical health insurance.
The 54th meeting of the GST Council was presided over by Sitharaman, who announced that the GST rates for certain cancer medications had been lowered from 12% to 5%. According to her, the council also lowered the namkeen rate from 18% to 12%.
“Today, status reports were filed by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on real estate and the GoM on rate rationalization. The status of online casinos and gaming was filed. In just six months, online gaming revenue has grown by 412% to Rs 6,909 crore, the speaker remarked.
In addition, the minister stated that during the previous six months, casino revenue increased by 34%.
According to Sitharaman, the GST Council has decided to form a new Group on Rate Reduction for health insurance, and the group will give its findings by the end of October. Samrat Choudhary, the deputy chief minister of Bihar and current head of the panel for GST rate rationalization, will lead the GoM, she announced.
“There are now two new GoMs selected. One has health and medical insurance. The GoM for rate rationalization will be led by the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, although new members will be appointed specifically for this purpose. We have instructed them to investigate this issue and provide a report by October 31, 2024, at the latest. The GoM’s report will serve as the basis for the GST council’s ultimate decision, which will be made in November, according to Sitharaman.
According to Sitharaman, a Group of Men (GoM) will be established to address the matter of the compensating cess that will end in March 2026.
“GST Council has taken few far-reaching decisions which will provide relief to broad spectrum of industry including real estate, IT (data hosting), foreign airlines, etc.” stated Pratik Jain, Partner at PwC India, in reference to the decisions made by the council. The council is due to meet again shortly to continue discussing rate rationalization, which suggests that the issue is becoming more urgent. The B2C segment’s adoption of electronic invoicing and the use of systems like invoice management systems (IMS) indicate that technology is expanding rapidly, and the industry must adapt. The upcoming months appear to be crucial in determining how our GST develops in the future.”
The topic of insurance premium taxation has come up in Parliamentary debates, as members of the opposition demanded that premiums for life and health insurance be exempt from the goods and services tax. On the matter, even Nitin Gadkari, the minister of transportation, wrote to Sitharaman.
In response to a question on the Finance Bill, Sitharaman stated that 75% of the GST collected goes to the states, and members of the opposition should urge their state finance ministers to present the idea to the GST Council.
During its meeting on Monday, the GST Council also voted to lower the tax rates on cancer drugs from 12 to 5% and on namkeens from 18 to 12%.
