Medicaments or disinfectants: Companies, taxmen lock horns over GST on sanitisers

Companies that make hand sanitisers claim that such products should be treated as medicaments that attract 12 per cent GST. However, the tax department believes that sanitisers are consumer goods that attract higher GST.

The demand for hand sanitisers remains high in the country after sales jumped last year during the first wave of Covid-19. As sanitiser sales remain high, a debate has started between companies that manufacture sanitisers and taxmen to determine the GST category for the essential item, reported The Economic Times. Companies that make hand sanitisers or raw materials claim that such products should be categorised as medicaments — liable to attract GST of 12 per cent — and not disinfectants (consumer goods) that attract 18 per cent GST.