New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The GST Council will hold its next meeting in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer on December 21, during which it is likely to take a decision on exempting or lowering the GST rate on health and life insurance.
The council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, may also take up the issue of rationalising GST rates on a number of goods consumed by the common man such as bottled drinking water and notebooks for students, to bring them under the 5 per cent slab from 12 per cent at present.
The GST Council has asked the Group of Ministers (GoM) to finalise the report on the GST rate on insurance by the October-end.
After the GoM meeting on health and life insurance, the council met last month and arrived at a broad consensus on exempting GST on insurance premiums paid for life insurance policies, and senior citizens’ health insurance.
GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh, is proposed to be exempted. However, 18 per cent GST will continue on premiums paid for policies with health insurance cover of over Rs 5 lakh.
The GoM on GST rate rationalisation also has suggested that the council rework tax rates on goods such as packaged drinking water, bicycles, exercise notebooks, luxury wristwatches, and shoes.
The GoM on rate rationalisation proposed reducing GST on packaged drinking water of 20 litres and above to 5 per cent from 18 per cent. If the GoM’s recommendation is accepted by the GST council, GST on bicycles costing less than Rs 10,000 will be reduced to 5 per cent from 12 per cent while GST on notebooks used by students will be reduced to 5 per cent from 12 per cent.
The GoM also proposed increasing GST on shoes priced above Rs 15,000 from 18 per cent to 28 per cent. It also proposed raising GST on wristwatches costing above Rs 25,000 from 18 per cent to 28 per cent.
Currently, GST is a four-slab regime. Essential items are either exempted or taxed at 5 per cent while luxury goods face a 28 per cent levy. The 12 and 18 per cent slabs are positioned between the two.
–IANS
sps/vd
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
