The GST Council will discuss whether tax on insurance premium should be done away with during a meeting scheduled for Monday.
The move comes after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in July urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the GST imposed on premiums for life and medical insurance plans. Opposition MPs had also raised the issue in the Parliament earlier.
The fitment committee under the council will submit a report on GST imposed on the premiums of life insurance, health insurance and reinsurance, explaining the revenue implications.
Following this, the council chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and consisting of ministers from states will take a call whether the taxation of insurance premiums should be brought down from the current 18 per cent to a lower slab (5 or 12 per cent) or completely scrap it. It will also assess whether senior citizens or other categories can be exempted.
During the meeting, the GST Council will also look into recommendations to revise tax slab rates. This comes after Group of Ministers (GoM) had in July suggested that the four-tier GST slab of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent should not be amended for the time being.
The fitment committee will also submit a status report on online gaming during the Monday meeting. It will detail the revenue collection from the sector before and after October 1, 2023, the date when the entry-level bets on online platforms and casinos were levied a 28 per cent GST.
The new laws had stipulated that offshore gaming platforms should also register with GST authorities and pay taxes. Violations would result in blocking of those apps or sites.
The GST Council had also decided that it will review 28 per cent tax on online gaming after six months. However, the panel is unlikely to revise the slab rates.
The drive, from August 16, 2024, to October 15, 2024, is aimed at detecting suspicious/fake GSTINs and to conduct requisite verification and further remedial action to weed out these fake billers.
In July, Gadkari pointed out that GST on life and medical insurance premiums is like levying tax on the uncertainties of life. He said the GST on the medical insurance premium is a deterrant for the growth of the insurance sector.
Gadkari had also raised issues like reintroducing IT deduction for health insurance premiums.
