The 44th GST Council Meeting was held on June 12th, 2021 via video conference by our finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. The meeting was also attended by union minister of state (MoS) for finance Anurag Thakur and other finance ministers of states and Union territories (UTs). This meeting was held shortly after the 43rd GST council meeting to finalise the points proposed in it regarding GST rates reduction on medical and Covid-19 related equipments.
In the 43rd Council Meeting, they also decided to reduce the compliance burden of small taxpayers and also pushed ahead several GST Return due-dates. Here are the highlights of the 43rd GST Council Meeting.
Now, let us understand the updates and highlights of the 44th GST Council Meeting here:
Highlights of 44th GST Council Meeting:
- The GST rates on COVID-19 related equipments has been reduced from 12% to 5%
- The GST rates on sanitisers and temperature checking instruments have been reduced to 5% from 18%
- The GST on vaccines will remain at 5%
- GST on ambulances reduced to 12 percent.
- The Centre will buy 75 percent of the vaccine as announced and will pay its GST. However, 70 percent of income will be shared with States.
Read all the points in detail here:
| S. No. |
Description | Present GST Rate |
GST Rate recommended by GST Council |
| A. Medicines | |||
| 1. | Tocilizumab | 5% | Nil |
| 2. | Amphotericin B | 5% | Nil |
| 3. | Anti-Coagulants like Heparin | 12% | 5% |
| 4. | Remdesivir | 12% | 5% |
| 5. | Any other drug recommended by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Dept. of Pharma (DoP) for Covid treatment |
Applicable Rate |
5% |
| B. Oxygen, Oxygen generation equipment and related medical devices | |||
| 1. | Medical Grade Oxygen | 12% | 5% |
| 2. | Oxygen Concentrator/ Generator, including personal imports thereof |
12% | 5% |
| 3. | Ventilators | 12% | 5% |
| 4. | Ventilator masks / canula / helmet | 12% | 5% |
| 5. | BiPAP Machine | 12% | 5% |
| 6. | High flow nasal canula (HFNC) device | 12% | 5% |
| C. Testing Kits and Machines | |||
| 1. | Covid Testing Kits | 12% | 5% |
| 2. | Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits, namely D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin and LDH |
12% | 5% |
| D. Other Covid-19 related relief material | |||
| 1. | Pulse Oximeters, incl personal imports thereof | 12% | 5% |
| 2. | Hand Sanitizer | 18% | 5% |
| 3. | Temperature check equipment | 18% | 5% |
| 4. | Gas/Electric/other furnaces for crematorium, including their installation, etc. |
18% | 5% |
| 5. | Ambulances | 28% | 12% |
Please note: These rate reductions/exemptions shall remain in force upto 30th September 2021 only.
Read our coverage on the previous Council Meet decisions, you may refer here:
- 43rd GST Council Meeting
- 42nd GST Council Meeting
- 41st GST Council Meeting
- 40th GST Council Meeting
- 39th GST Council Meeting
- 38th GST Council Meeting
- 37th GST Council Meeting
- 36th GST Council Meeting
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