44th GST Council Meeting: Highlights, Latest News and Updates

The 44th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting was held on 12th June 2021. The GST Council had previously met up on 28th May 2021. During the press conference that followed the meeting, the Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitaraman announced that a Group of Ministers (GoM) would be formed to discuss the need for further reductions and decide on any new exemptions for COVID essentials and treatment of Black Fungus.

The 44th GST Council meeting was chaired by the Union Finance Minister. The Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Thakur, and the finance ministers of the states and Union Territories (UTs), and other senior officers of both, the Ministry of Finance and the states and UTs were present at the meeting.

Latest updates on GST Council meeting

24th June 2022
The 47th GST Council meeting was held on the 28th and 29th of June 2022 in Chandigarh. Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman chaired this meeting and made recommendations to revise rates for revenue augmentation and correction of inversion while pruning the GST exemption list. Compliance relief was granted to e-commerce suppliers and composition taxpayers.

29th December 2021
The 46th GST Council meeting was held on 31st December 2021 in New Delhi. Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman led meeting has decided to defer the GST rate hike to 12% for textiles.

1st September 2021
45th GST Council meeting was held on 17th September 2021. Tax concessions on COVID-19 essentials got extended, Matter on GST compensation to states was taken up, correction of inverted tax structure, etc were on the agenda.

28th May 2021
43rd GST Council meeting took place on 28th May 2021. The Council approved the GST amnesty scheme to be re-introduced, the late fee was rationalised for all taxpayers, especially for small taxpayers and IGST is exempted on import of COVID treating equipment and relief materials up to 31st August 2021.

Highlights of the 44th GST Council Meeting

The 44th GST Council Meeting took a decision to reduce the GST rates on the drugs used to treat COVID-19 and other related medical supplies. These rate reductions or exemptions will remain in force only up to 30th September 2021. The new rates shall apply to newly manufactured stock. Here are the proposed new GST rates:

Medicines required for COVID-19 and Black Fungus treatment:

Items	Old rate	Proposed rate
Tocilizumab	5%	Nil
Amphotericin-B	5%	Nil
Remedesivir	12%	5%
Anti-coagulants like Heparin	12%	5%
Any other drug (recommended by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Dept. of Pharma (DoP) for COVID-19 treatment)	Existing rate	5%

Medical equipment required for COVID-19 treatment:

Items	Old rate	Proposed rate
Medical Grade Oxygen	12%	5%
Oxygen concentrators/ generators (which include personal imports)	12%	5%
Ventilators and ventilator masks/ cannula/ helmets	12%	5%
BiPaP machine	12%	5%
High flow nasal cannula device	12%	5%
Pulse oximeters	12%	5%

COVID-19 testing kits and items utilised for the prevention of COVID-19

Items	Old rate	Proposed rate
COVID-19 testing kits	12%	5%
Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits, namely D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin and LDH	12%	5%
Hand sanitiser	18%	5%
Temperature checking equipment	18%	5%

Others:

Items	Old rate	Proposed rate
Gas/electric/other furnaces for crematoriums, including their installation, etc	18%	5%
Ambulances	28%	12%

Expectations from the 44th GST Council meeting

The GoM was formed on 29th May 2021 to evaluate the need for reducing GST on COVID essentials, and it submitted the report to the Finance Ministry by 8th June 2021. The council is meeting to discuss specifically the report submitted by the GoM. The single point agenda of the 44th GST Council meeting is to consider the GoM report and decide whether to reduce the GST rate on COVID essentials or not.

The sources say the GoM has proposed to keep the existing 5% GST on COVID vaccines and proposed the following new GST rates on COVID essentials:

Medicines required for COVID treatment:

Items	Current rate	Proposed rate
Tocilizumab	5%	Nil
Amphotericin-B	5%	Nil
Remedesivir	12%	5%
Anti-coagulants	12%	5%
Medical O2	12%	5%

Also, any other drug prescribed by the Health Ministry for COVID treatment shall be reduced to a 5% GST rate.

Medical equipment required for COVID treatment:

Items	Current rate	Proposed rate
Oxygen concentrator	12%	5%
Ventilators and ventilator masks	12%	5%
BipAp machine	12%	5%
HF nasal canula device	12%	5%
Pulse oximeters	12%	5%

COVID testing kits and items utilised for prevention of COVID-19:

Items	Current rate	Proposed rate
COVID testing kits	12%	5%
Genome sequencing kits	12%	No change
RT-PCR machines	18%	No change
PPE kits	5%	No change
N95, surgical and other triple-layer masks	5%	No change
Hand sanitiser	18%	5%
Temperature equipment	18%	12%

Other necessities:

Items	Current rate	Proposed rate
Crematorium furnaces	18%	12%
Portable hospital units	18%	No change
Ambulances	28%	No change

The current and expected GST exemptions and rate reductions are expected to be valid until 31st August 2021.