Now, 5% GST On Hospital Rooms With Over Rs 5,000 Rent

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) notified the rate modifications made by the GST Council in its 47th meeting on June 28-29, despite protests over the GST rate hike on hospital room rent of more than Rs 5,000.

These modifications will take effect on July 18th. With the exception of acute care units, the Council has resolved to impose a 5 percent GST on hospital rooms with rent above Rs 5,000.
"Although the healthcare industry is primarily exempt from the GST, taxing room rentals will raise the cost of care.

A 5 percent GST levied without an input tax credit on room rents above Rs 5,000 is a regressive policy.
The fundamental structure of GST is availability of input tax credit, which is undermined in this instance.
After the government issued its announcement, Anita Rastogi, partner, GST and indirect taxes at PwC, suggested that the government should have another look at this aspect.

Changes to a number of products, including bicycle pumps, bicycle pump parts, air or vacuum pump components, bicycle pump compressors, cake servers, fish knives, butter knives, sugar tongs, spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, and similar kitchen or tableware, had been announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In the meantime, it had also implemented GST on hotel rooms that cost less than Rs 1,000 per unit per day, bringing them on par.