Recommendation from Group of Ministers awaited for GST exemption on health, life insurance

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Central government is awaiting the recommendation from the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to take a final decision on the exemption of GST on health insurance and life insurance policies, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, said in the Lok Sabha earlier this week.

Responding to a question from Kollam MP N. K. Premachandran, the Minister explained that the issue of exempting or reducing GST on life and health insurance had been placed before the GST Council in its 54th meeting held on September 9 at New Delhi. After detailed deliberations, the council had recommended the setting up of a GoM to look into the issues pertaining to GST on life insurance and health insurance, and the first meeting of this GoM was held on October 19 at New Delhi.

“The recommendations of the GoM, when received, will be placed before the GST Council,’’ the Minister said.

GST rates and exemptions on all services, including health and life insurance, are prescribed based on the recommendations of the GST Council, a constitutional body made up of members from both the government of the Union, and of the States or Union Territories.

Specific health insurance schemes catering to the needs of differently abled and economically weaker sections of society, including the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the Universal Health Insurance Scheme, the Jan Arogya Bima Policy, and the Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme, are exempt from GST.

Life insurance services provided under specific schemes, including the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, and the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, are exempt from GST. Fully government-sponsored insurance schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, are also exempt from GST.

The Central government also maintains that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India envisages every citizen should have appropriate life, health and property insurance cover, and every enterprise is supported by appropriate insurance solutions, by 2047.