GST:GST imposed on healthcare and life insurance services has filled the government’s treasury. The government treasury has received revenue of more than Rs 16,000 crore from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on these services. Overall, Rs 16,398 crore will be collected as GST from healthcare and life insurance services in FY 23-2024. Earned capital up to Rs. In this, Rs 8,135 crore was collected from life insurance and Rs 8,263 crore was collected from health insurance.
Giving this information in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary said that in the last financial year, Rs 2,045 crore was also collected as GST from re-insurance on life and health insurance. In this also, Rs 561 crore was earned from reinsurance on life and Rs 1,484 crore was earned on health care.
In the last financial year 2022-23, Rs 16,770 crore was earned from GST on these services. During this period, Rs 9,132 crore was collected from life insurance and Rs 7,638 crore from health insurance.
18 percent GST on health insurance
The Minister of State for Finance said that at present GST at the rate of 18 percent is applicable on health insurance services. However, no GST charge is levied on some specific health insurance schemes like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Universal Health Insurance Scheme, Jan Arogya Bima Policy and Nirmaya Swasthya Bima Yojana. These schemes especially cater to the needs of economically weaker sections and the disabled.
Role of GST Council and GoM
GST Council (Council) has asked to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) in its 54th meeting on 9 September 2024 to resolve the issue of exemption or reduction in GST on life and health insurance. This GoM was formed under the chairmanship of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. The first meeting of this group was held on 19 October 2024 in New Delhi. These policies were discussed in detail in this meeting. The minister said that after getting the consent of the ministers, it will be placed before the GST Council. The next meeting of the council will be held in Jaisalmer on 21 December 2024. During this time, the recommendation for exemption in GST can be discussed.
Comparison of previous and present tax structure
Chowdhary also said that before the implementation of GST, health and life insurance services were taxed at the same rate under Service Tax and exemptions were given for specific schemes.
Now it will be important to see whether the GST Council makes any changes in the tax structure on health and life insurance services in future.
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