Nirmala responded to Mamata's corona vaccine exemption request in 18 tweets

 

The News Cover: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to Mamata Banerjee's letter seeking tax exemption on covid equipment, vaccines and medicines within hours. Nirmala Sitharaman responded in detail to Mamata Banerjee's letter on Twitter. The essence of Nirmala's argument in 16 tweets is that the Center has lifted import duty and health tax on many things in a cowardly situation. Even GST has been waived. He explained that a 5 per cent tax exemption on vaccines and a 12 per cent tax exemption on medicines was necessary to ensure that prices of these items were not increased.

Nirmala's argument is that import duty has been lifted on goods that will be provided free of cost. Whether it is Oxygen or RemedicV, they can be brought for free and distributed free of cost. No party has to pay any tax for this. But it is not possible to raise taxes on vaccines and equipment.

1/ Hon. CM of West Bengal @MamataOfficial has written to the Hon @PMOIndia seeking exemption from GST/Customs duty and other duties and taxes on some items and COVID related drugs.

My response is given in the following 15 tweets.@ANI @PIB_India @PIBKolkata pic.twitter.com/YmcZVuL7XO

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 9, 2021

At the same time, Nirmala has shown that the GST that can be obtained from this tool or ticker is more profitable for the state than the center. Because the state will get 80 rupees 50 paise for 100 rupees. The rest will go to the central treasury. Nirmala's clear argument is that without this tax, ordinary people will have to pay more.

In the letter, Mamata wrote, "We are trying our best not to handle the situation. Efforts are being made to ensure that the people of the state get oxygen and all the necessary medicines when they need it. In this situation, various voluntary organizations have also come forward to deliver oxygen to the people on time. But there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of oxygen and medicine in the state. The state has nothing to do, so the request to the center is to give tax exemption on all the medical equipment required for corona. At the same time, there should be a limit on the supply of life-saving medicines and equipment. We will continue to deal with Corona.