Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Government collected over Rs 24,500 crore through GST on health insurance and reinsurance premium in the last three years, Finance Ministry data showed. This will further push the demand for lowering GST on health insurance.
GST on health insurance and re-insurance premium is 18 per cent. However, schemes such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Universal Health Insurance Scheme, Jan Argoya Bima Policy and Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme do not attract GST.
Minister of state in the Finance Ministry Pankaj Chaudhary presented the collection data which showed that GST collection (cash) from health insurance premium from FY22 to FY24 was over Rs 21,000 crore, while that from health reinsurance premium was around Rs 1,500 crore. While an individual pays GST for health insurance, companies pay for health re-insurance. In both situations, companies deposit the balance — after deducting input tax credit from total tax dues — which is referred to as ‘cash’.
This data has been made public at a time when Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have written to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman advocating for the removal of GST on not just health insurance but also life insurance. The issue has generated political heat, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and DMK pressing the demand in the Lok Sabha and staging a walkout last week.
