44th GST Council Meeting: Key announcements made by Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday addressed the outcome of the 44th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will meet in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, besides finance ministers of states and Union territories and senior officers from Union government and states on Friday where they discussed rate rationalisation on COVID-19 related goods.

GST Council waived tax on black fungus drug; rates reduced for several Covid essentials.

While GST on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B is slashed to nil from 5 per cent, the rate on Remdesivir and anti-coagulants like Heparin has been lowered from 12 per cent to 5 per cent.

The Centre will buy the 75 per cent vaccine as announced and will pay its GST too. But 70 per cent of income from GST will be shared with states.

GST Council approves rate reduction for Remdesivir from 12% to 5%; nil tax on Tocilizumab, Amphotericin.
 

GST rate on Covid vaccines has been retained at 5 per cent.

GST on electric furnaces and temperature checking equipment brought down to 5 per cent and on ambulances to 12 per cent.