Goods and Services Tax (GST) council on Saturday slashed tax on pulse oximeter, oxygen concentrator, and all other COVID-19 related medical devices. GST on these COVID related medical devices has been cut to 5 percent from 12 percent.
The council announced that the tax cut is valid till September 30. The council also stated that the cuts can be extended further depending on the situation.
GST cut on pulse oximeter and more
During the meeting on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the tax cut on medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, BiPAP machines and high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) devices from 5 percent from 12 percent.
Sitharaman highlighted tax cut on essential medical devices related to COVID such as pulse oximeters, temperature check equipment and also hand sanitisers and ambulances. The GST on all these goods has been cut to 5 percent.
FM also informed to bring down the tax on Covid testing kits from 12 percent to 5 percent. Additionally, GST on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B has been brought down to Nil from 5 percent.
Other COVID related drugs including Anti-Coagulants like Heparin, Remdesivir, among others have also received a tax cut from 12 percent to 5 percent. Well, this should come a sigh of relief for people and families battling with COVID.
To recall, as soon as the second COVID-19 wave hit the country, we witnessed how expensive medical devices such as pulse oximeter, oxygen concentrator, among others got.
There was a time that to get a good pulse oximeter, buyers had to pay around Rs 2000 to Rs 3000. So, if you are looking to buy COVID related devices such as pulse oximeter, oxygen concentrator, infrared thermometer, among others there are several websites that sell such products. These medical devices are readily available on offline stores across the country.
