'Waive GST On Health, Life Insurance': Bengal CM Mamata Writes To Nirmala Sitharaman

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has protested the levying of 18% GST on life and health insurance premiums. She has urged FM Sitharaman to waive GST and include Sec 80C and 80D in the new tax regime.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive GST on health and life insurance.

Source : PTI

Upset over the levying of 18% GST on life insurance and health insurance premiums, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking a waiver of GST on the two products. The Bengal Chief Minister termed 18% GST on life insurance and health insurance premiums as "anti-people", reported ABP Ananda.

In her letter, Mamata Banerjee told Nirmala Sitharaman, "I think the imposition of 18% GST on life insurance and health insurance is an anti-people decision. Moreover, the absence of exemptions under Section 80C and 80D for these under the new tax structure is also inconvenient for the common man." Explaining this, the Chief Minister wrote, "GST on insurance premiums increases the financial burden on the common man. This additional burden can deter many individuals from buying new policies or continuing old insurance coverage."

Our demand to Government of India is to roll back GST from life insurance and medical insurance premium on grounds of people's health imperatives.

This GST is bad because it adversely affects the people's ability to take care of their basic vital needs.

If Government of India…

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 1, 2024

Mamata Banerjee said life and health insurance must be available to everyone in the society — starting from farmers and labourers to the salaried class. It is clear that the burden of GST on health and life insurance will put the common man under more stress. "I request you to waive this GST to bring more people under the insurance cover and include sections 80C and 80D in the new tax regime for the mental peace and financial prosperity of the common man," she said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo on Thursday said that her party would launch an agitation if the Centre did not roll back its decision to impose GST on health and life insurance. 

"Our demand to the Government of India is to roll back GST from life insurance and medical insurance premiums on grounds of people's health imperatives. GST adversely affects people's ability to take care of their basic vital needs. If the Government of India does not roll back the anti-people GST, we will be bound to hit the road," she said in an x post on Thursday.