Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a series of Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief measures for COVID-19 relief essentials, including Black Fungus medicine. However, the GST Council agreed to stick to 5 per cent GST on vaccines. 

In its 44^th meeting on Saturday, the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved all recommendations of GoM on rate rationalisation. The GoM, set up by the GST Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various COVID-19 items, including vaccines, drugs and equipment. 

GST on ambulances was reduced to 12 per cent from the current 28 per cent. The GST Council slashed tax rate from 12 to 5 per cent on medical-grade oxygen, BiPaP machines, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, hand sanitisers, temperature-check equipment, high-flow nasal cannula and pulse oximeter. Also, tax on COVID-testing kits was brought down to 5 from 12 per cent.

“Today’s meeting was a single-agenda meeting on the Group of Ministers, which was constituted in (the) last GST Council meeting to come up with recommendations on tax relief for COVID-19 essentials,” said the finance minister. “The 5 per cent GST on vaccines will stay. The Centre will buy 75 per cent of vaccines as announced and will pay their GST too. But 70 per cent of income from GST will be shared with States,” added Ms Sitharaman. 

“While GST on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B is slashed to nil from 5 per cent, the rate on Remdesivir and anti-coagulants, like Heparin, is lowered from 12 to 5 per cent,” she said at a press conference in New Delhi.