GST on healthcare will make medicare unaffordable: ASSOCHAM-TechSci study

The healthcare sector in India catering to the unmet health needs of the society should be kept out of the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or else medical care would become expensive and unaffordable for the ordinary people, says an Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)-TechSci Research paper.

Currently, healthcare is exempted from service tax and a similar dispensation should continue even after implementation of the GST regime at least for 10 year. Besides, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the forthcoming Budget should raise tax exemption on preventive health check-up and announce a healthcare infrastructure medical innovation fund, it said.

"A large number of items like food and other essentials for a common household are being kept outside the purview of the GST. Healthcare is equally important and essential, important only next to food. So, there is a strong case for the sector to be spared the GST," said ASSOCHAM secretary general D S Rawat.