Decision on IGST on imported O2 concentrators on May 28

The GST Council is its upcoming meeting scheduled to be held on May 28 is likely to take a call on levy of 12 per cent tax on import of oxygen concentrators for personal useThe Delhi High Court on Friday said that imposition of 12 per cent Integrated GST IGST on oxygen concentrators for personal use or those received as gifts is ldquounconstitutionalrdquo The observation came on a plea filed by an 85year old Covid19 patient whose relative had sent an oxygen concentrator from the US It also quashed a May 1 notification of the Finance Ministry that said a 12 per cent IGST will be levied on oxygen concentrators imported for personal use or giftSources said the final decision on this issue would be taken by the GST Council in its upcoming meeting on Friday Tax experts said the Council may decide to exempt IGST on such imports as the revenue implications would not be muchAbhishek Jain Tax Partner EY said the government had already provided exemption from IGST on free import of oxygen concentrators for Covid19 relief by any state government or any agency authorised by the state government ldquoThe Delhi HC has beneficially extended the benefit of this IGST exemption to personal import as gifts for individual use as well Given the enormity of the pandemic situation the government may consider extending the benefitrdquoAMRG amp Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said collecting tariffs on medical equipment medicines and vaccines scarcity of which is leading to the death of millions is against the nationrsquos fundamental principles ldquoLowering prices for Covid19 related material is needed and neutralising tax on all such imports is one such effective method that would have an immediate trickledown effect on the entire supply chainrdquo Mohan addedThe council in its May 28 meeting also likely to discuss tax rate cuts on Covid essentials besides compensation shortfall of statesModerna refuses vax to Punjab says can sell only to CentreChandigarh Moderna the USbased Covid19 vaccine manufacturer has refused to send vaccines directly to the Punjab government stating that it only deals with the Centre a senior state official said on SundayPunjabrsquos nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said according to Chief Minister Amarinder Singhrsquos directions all vaccine manufacturers were approached for direct purchase of Covid vaccines including Sputnik V Pfizer Moderna and Johnson amp JohnsonA reply was received only from Moderna wherein the company refused to deal with the state government he saidAccording to Modernarsquos policy it deals with the government of India and not with any state government or private parties the Punjab government said in a statementEarlier the CM had directed officials to explore possibilities of floating a global tender for the procurement of vaccines from all possible sources to ensure that people of the state are vaccinated at the earliestNotably Punjab was forced to stop vaccination for phase I and phase II categories because of the nonavailability of vaccine dosesAll efforts would be made for the procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the state which had received fewer than 44 lakh vaccine doses so far from the government of India the statement saidFrom the Centrersquos allocation for 1844 age group beneficiaries the state government has been able to buy only 42 lakh vaccine doses including 66000 received on Saturday Garg said Only 64000 doses are left he saidExec directorrsquos remark not the firmrsquos view SIISerum Institute of India SII has disassociated itself from its executive director Suresh Jadhavrsquos statement that the Centre began the vaccination of multiple age groups without taking into consideration the available stock and the WHO rules In a letter to the home ministry SII stated that this was ldquonot the view of the companyrdquo and clarified that only CEO Adar Poonawalla is the firmrsquos official spokespersonAlso ReadMumbairsquos Test Positivity Rate rises to over 6 per cent new cases go up too26530132Total no of coronavirus cases in India so far299266Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far2805399Total no of active cases in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever