medical supplies could be less than expected, with a section of the industry voicing fears of a resulting tax anomaly.Producers may not be able to recover from the consumer the taxes already paid for procuring raw material and services, following the reduction of the GST rate from 12% and 18% to 5% on items such as medical oxygen, pulse oximeters, covid test kits and hand sanitizers announced on Saturday.This, industry representatives said, could put pressure on some producers to increase the base price, excluding tax.
As a result, the benefit to consumers from the tax cut could be curtailed, a fear already in the minds of policymakers, which prevented them from reducing the rate to zero.Some businesses, however, said that they will reduce.