In a statement, former chairman of CII Himachal, Harish Aggarwal, chairman of the BBN Association, Sanjay Khurana, and national chairman of the Laghu Udyog Bharti Pharma Committee, Rajesh Gupta, said that, instead of declaring manufacturers of sanitizers as warriors of Corona, the GST department has started to call them tax evaders and is constantly slapping notices.
Hand sanitizer manufacturers protested Wednesday against the pending tax notices given to them after the GST on sanitizers had risen from 12% to 18%. The manufacturers said earlier hand sanitizers were listed as medicinal preparation under the 1955 Act on Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties), and excise duty was paid accordingly on them. Such businesses had paid 12 percent GST since the introduction of GST in 2017 as per the category Medicines.
“The GST department now unexpectedly informs us that sanitizers come under the category of disinfectants and that we have to pay GST 18 percent. They’ve sent letters to companies accusing them of tax evasion, “the manufacturers said in a statement. In a statement, former chairman of CII Himachal, Harish Aggarwal, chairman of the BBN Association, Sanjay Khurana, and national chairman of the Laghu Udyog Bharti Pharma Committee, Rajesh Gupta, said that, instead of declaring manufacturers of sanitizers as warriors of Corona, the GST department has started to call them tax evaders and is constantly slapping notices.
The statement said they charge customers 12 percent GST and deposit the same with government and hence there is no tax evasion problem. If the department thinks these businesses are committing foolishness by not paying 18 percent GST, then why hasn’t the department raised objections when the companies have been filing 12 percent GST return since June 30th, they said.
Aggarwal said that GST Department ‘s decision to classify hand sanctuaries as “disinfectants,” a category that includes products such as insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products, and plant-growth regulators, and other similar products, all of which are linked to products used for agricultural and horticultural purposes, is highly uncertain, unreasonable, and “Unlike disinfectants used on dead surfaces like soil or on plants, the alcohol-based hand sanitizers are intended to be used on the human body,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s Center said, “Sanitizers are disinfectants such as soaps, antibacterial liquids, dettol, etc., both attracting 18 percent regular duty rate under the GST rule.”
