GST Council Meet Highlights: Import of COVID relief items, Amphotericin-B exempted from IGST
43rd GST Council Meet: The Council has decided to exempt the import of relief items even if they are purchased, if these are meant for donating to the government, or on recommendation of any state government to any relief agency. This exemption is extended till August 31, 2021, FM said
BusinessToday.In | May 28, 2021 | Updated 21:10 IST
The 43rd GST Council meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Niramla Sitharaman, has just concluded. The council met for the first time in around eight months; the last meeting was held in October last year.
GST Council Meeting Key Takeaways: Finance Minister announced that the integrated goods and services tax (IGST) is exempted on free COVID-related essential items till August 31, 2021.
The Council, which is headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and includes representatives of all states and Union territories, is meeting for the first time in nearly eight months.
States have been pressing for waiver of GST on critical items such as vaccines.
Amid a growing chorus over the GST Council meeting not being convened for over seven months, the Union Finance Ministry on Saturday announced that the next meeting of the panel that decides on taxes on goods and services will be held on May 28. After over a dozen central and state levies such as excise duty, service tax and VAT were subsumed in a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, the Council, headed by Union Finance Minister and including representatives of all states and union territories, was mandated to meet every quarter to deliberate on issues at hand.