FACT CHECK:-

1) Will 12% GST on house rent be introduced at the upcoming GST meeting?

2) Whether GST on Health Insurance be reduced?

1) The rumour that the GST tax on rent for houses and stores would be implemented at the next GST Council meeting was untrue. It has also been requested that the federal authorities refrain from disseminating incorrect information. The news is spreading like wildfire on social networking sites.

The Federal press Office has confirmed that reports that a 12% GST tax on rent for dwellings and stores will be implemented at the upcoming Federal GST Council meeting are false. The inability to escape the people's economic dilemma, using the Central Finance Commission's advice as a go-between, is clear.

It was claimed that the Ministry of Finance has no plans to set any precedents at the upcoming GST Council meeting, and that such records should not be shared.

 

2) The GST Council has not recommended reduction of the 18 per cent GST rate on health insurance schemes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Parliament on Monday.

At present, GST on health insurance services is levied at a standard rate of 18 per cent.

"Health insurance, like majority of other taxable supplies, is standard rated at 18 per cent. In pre-GST regime also, health insurance was standard rated," Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"A significant relief in GST has been provided by way of exemption to above stated insurance schemes catering to economically weaker sections of the society and differently abled. Further, healthcare services are also exempt from GST."

Health insurance schemes catering to the needs of economically weaker sections of the society and differently abled, such as the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the Universal Health Insurance Scheme, the Jan Argoya Bima Policy, and the Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme are fully exempt from GST.

According to Sitharaman, representations to reduce the GST on health insurance were placed before the Council in its 31st meeting held on December 22, 2018 and in its 37th meeting held on September 20, 2019.

"GST Council did not make recommendation for reduction of GST," she added.