Soothing salvo: On new Group of Ministers and tax changes for insurance policies
The HinduMeeting for the second time after the 2024 general election results, the Goods and Services Tax Council on Monday sought to calm some of the rising clamour against the 18% indirect tax levy on insurance premium payments. A new Group of Ministers is being formed to urgently recommend tax changes for life and health insurance policies, with an assurance the Council would meet again in November to take a call on its report. While Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has averred that the GST levy on life insurance premium is tantamount to taxing the uncertainties of life, the BJP’s now-critical allies such as the TDP and Jana Sena Party have also sought a rollback of the levies on health and life insurance. For life covers, the Council could take a more nuanced approach by extending most relief to pure term insurance policies that help families tide over shocks, rather than to myriad market-linked investment products offered by the industry in the guise of insurance. If, in the Council’s wisdom, helicopter services availed on a ‘shared seat’ basis must attract only 5% GST, insurance policies surely deserve more benign taxation too.