54th GST Council Meeting: Many important decisions were taken in the 54th GST Council meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The GST rate on cancer medicines has been reduced from 12% to 5%, which will reduce the cost of treatment. The GST rate on salty and some delicious food items has been reduced from 18% to 12%. At the same time, tax on car seats has been increased to 28%. A GoM has been formed to reduce the GST rate on health insurance. Let us tell you that on taking helicopter services for religious tourism, only 5 percent GST will have to be paid instead of 18 percent. During the meeting, reducing the GST rate on health insurance premium, imposing tax on online payments of more than ₹ 2,000 was also discussed. Cess collection was also discussed in the GST Council meeting, in which it was told that the total cess collection is expected to reach ₹ 8.66 lakh crore by March 2026. After loan payment, a surplus of about ₹ 40,000 crore is estimated to remain. Business-to-Customer (B2C) GST invoicing system will be implemented from October 1, which will bring transparency and improvement in the taxation process. In the 54th GST Council meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the issue of GST on grants received by educational institutions for research has been sent to the Fitment Committee for now. The GST Council will take a decision on this after the committee report.
