The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified extension of tax relief given on imported medical supplies used in prevention and treatment of coronavirus disease, till end of August.
CBIC said in a notification on Monday that the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) exemption given in May to remdesivir injections and to its raw materials till end of June, has now been extended till end of August. The government had in April exempted these items from customs duty till end of October.
In a separate notification, CBIC also said the IGST exemption till end of July given to 18 medical supplies, including covid vaccines, medical oxygen and oxygen gear imported into India for free distribution has now been extended till end of August. Another notification added to this list, Amphotericin B, the drug used in treatment of black fungus. This would also now be eligible for IGST relief as well as customs duty relief. The items in this list were given customs duty and health cess waiver till end of July. This has also now been extended till end of August.
However, to get IGST relief on these 19 items, CBIC has specified a few riders, including submitting acknowledgement from medical relief agencies and institutions that received the donated supplies.
These notifications give effect to decisions taken by the GST Council last Friday. While giving tax relief on imports meant for personal consumption or relief work is easier for policymakers, the same is not an easy task in the case of locally produced items as GST’s philosophy is to levy tax on value addition at each stage of the supply. The GST Council has appointed a ministerial panel led by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma to look into demands for GST rate cut on medical supplies used in prevention and treatment of covid including covid vaccines.
Source : Live Mint
