New Delhi. Those who have taken term life insurance are eyeing the GST Council meeting to be held today. For a long time, there has been a demand to abolish GST on term life insurance. It is believed that in today’s GST Council meeting, a decision can be taken to remove GST from term life insurance or reduce its rate. Currently, 18 percent GST is levied on term life insurance. Apart from this, there is also a strong discussion about the decision to bring ATF, the fuel used in aircraft, under GST. According to media reports, VAT will not be levied on ATF by bringing it under GST. Even if the maximum GST of 28 percent is levied on ATF, its rate will still decrease compared to earlier and this will make the airfare cheaper. However, it remains to be seen whether the GST Council is able to take a decision on these two important issues in today’s meeting or not.
Another big issue is the increase in tax on transactions up to Rs 2000 done through debit and credit cards. It is being discussed that in the GST Council meeting, the tax rate on transactions up to Rs 2000 through cards can be increased to 18%. Currently, payment aggregators charge 0.5 to 2% tax on such transactions. If the tax on card transactions is increased, it will directly affect debit card and credit card holders. Because payment aggregators will collect this increased tax from the card holders only. Most of the transactions done through debit and credit cards are up to Rs 2000. The Fitment Committee of the GST Council has recommended increasing the tax on card transactions.
Apart from this, a report on online gaming will also come in the GST Council meeting. This report will tell how much GST was received from online gaming before and after October 1, 2023. The GST Council had imposed 28 percent GST on online gaming, horse racing and casinos from October 1, 2023. Earlier, online gaming companies were paying less GST than this. In such a situation, the GST Council had said that all these companies will have to pay tax at the rate of 28 percent even in old cases.
