GST Council in its56th Meeting has recommended significant changes to the GST rates for goods in the health sector. The proposed changes would reduce or remove the tax on a range of medicines and medical products. A number of specific, high-cost drugs, including those used for rare diseases, are slated for a reduction in tax from 12% to Nil. Certain other drugs will also see their rate go from 5% to Nil. In addition, a broad category of goods, including most drugs, diagnostic kits, surgical items, spectacles, and various medical instruments, would see their rate reduced from 12% to 5%. Medical thermometers and some analytical instruments would also be taxed at a lower rate, moving from 18% to 5%. These recommendations would lower the tax burden on a wide array of healthcare-related items.
Recommendations for HEALTH SECTOR
(5% to Nil)
| S. No. | Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff item | Description of Goods | ||||||
| 1. | 30 |
|
(12% to Nil)
| S. No. | Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff item | Description of Goods | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. | 30 |
|
(12% to 5%)
| S. No. | Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff item | Description of Goods |
| 1. | 28 | Anaesthetics |
| 2. | 28 | Potassium Iodate |
| 3. | 28 | Steam |
| 4. | 2801 20 | Iodine |
| 5. | 2804 40 10 | Medical grade oxygen |
| 6. | 2847 | Medicinal grade hydrogen peroxide |
| 7. | 30 | All Drugs and medicines including:
(i) Fluticasone Furoate + Umeclidinium + Vilanterol FF/UMEC/VI (ii) Brentuximab Vedotin (iii) Ocrelizumab (iv) Pertuzumab (v) Pertuzumab + trastuzumab (vi) Faricimab |
| 8. | 3001 | Glands and other organs for organo-therapeutic uses, dried, whether or not powdered; extracts of glands or other organs or of their secretions for organo-therapeutic uses; heparin and its salts; other human or animal substances prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, not elsewhere specified or included |
| 9. | 3002 | Animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses; antisera and other blood fractions and modified immunological products, whether or not obtained by means of biotechnological processes; toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products |
| 10. | 3003 | Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 30.02, 30.05 or 30.06) consisting of two or more constituents which have been mixed together for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, not put up in measured doses or in forms or packings for retail sale, including Ayurvaedic, Unani, Siddha, homoeopathic or Bio-chemic systems medicaments |
| 11. | 3004 | Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 30.02, 30.05 or 30.06) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale, including Ayurvaedic, Unani, homoeopathic siddha or Bio-chemic systems medicaments, put up for retail sale |
| 12 | 3005 | Wadding, gauze, bandages and similar articles (for example, dressings, adhesive plasters, poultices), impregnated or coated with pharmaceutical substances or put up in forms or packings for retail sale for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary purposes |
| 14. | 3006 | Pharmaceutical goods specified in Note 4 to this Chapter [i.e. Sterile surgical catgut, similar sterile suture materials (including sterile absorbable surgical or dental yarns) and sterile tissue adhesives for surgical wound closure; sterile laminaria and sterile laminaria tents; sterile absorbable surgical or dental haemostatics; sterile surgical or denatal adhesion barriers, whether or not absorbable; Waste pharmaceuticals] [other than contraceptives and Ostomy appliances] |
| 15. | 3822 | All diagnostic kits and reagents |
| 16. | 4015 | Surgical rubber gloves or medical examination rubber gloves |
| 17. | 90 or any other Chapter | Blood glucose monitoring system (Glucometer) and test strips |
| 18. | 90 or any other Chapter | Patent Ductus Arteriousus / Atrial Septal Defect occlusion device |
| 19. | 9004 | Spectacles and goggles for correcting vision |
| 20. | 9018 | Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, including scintigraphic apparatus, other electro-medical apparatus and sight-testing instruments |
| 21. | 9019 | Mechano-therapy appliances; massage apparatus; psychological aptitude-testing apparatus; ozone therapy, oxygen therapy, aerosol therapy, artificial respiration or other therapeutic respiration apparatus |
| 22. | 9020 | Other breathing appliances and gas masks, excluding protective masks having neither mechanical parts nor replaceable filters |
| 23. | 9022 | Apparatus based on the use of X-rays or of alpha, beta or gamma radiations, for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, including radiography or radiotherapy apparatus, X-ray tubes and other X-ray generators, high tension generators, control panels and desks, screens, examinations or treatment tables, chairs and the light |
| 24. | 9804 | Other Drugs and medicines intended for personal use |
( 18% to 5%)
| S. No. | Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff item | Description of Goods |
| 1. | 9025 | Thermometers for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary usage |
| 2. | 9027 | Instruments and apparatus for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses for physical or chemical analysis. |
Note: The recommendations of the GST Council have been presented in this article containing major item of decisions in simple language for information of the stakeholders. The same would be given effect through the relevant circulars/ notifications/ law amendments which alone shall have the force of law. The author is not promoting or confirms or guarantee the final decision of the government to implement these recommendations and same shouldn’t be a cause of action against author to held responsible for any loss by using this information.
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