Blood bank officials discuss speculation on blood tax

In relation to a speculation that the central government may impose a 14.5 per cent tax on blood and blood products delivered from blood banks in the upcoming budget, representatives of such banks were summoned to prepare a resolution that would be submitted to the state health minister.
The meeting was held last Tuesday. However, no official circular or notice on the matter has been released yet.
To discuss this, the Federation of Bombay Blood Banks (FBBB) summoned representatives from 25 blood banks on February 9 at S.L. Raheja Hospital. Confirming the news, Dr Neelam Nijhara, secretary, FBBB, said, “We held a private meeting regarding this but until we get an official statement from the government, we cannot disclose further information.”
According to documents accessed by The Asian Age, the representatives might meet the state health minister on February 23 to discuss the issue. Dr Sunil Rajadhyaksha, head of of the department of transfusion medicine, Tata Memorial Hospital, one of the representatives who were part of the meeting, said, “This has been going around but until something concrete comes out, we can’t say anything. The tax on blood may be a presumption but we have to wait till the budget is declared.”

According to notification number 25/2012 of service tax, the two exemption clauses mentioned do not clearly state if blood and blood products provided by the blood banks would also be exempted.
“It was also discussed in the meeting that they need to confirm whether hospitals come under clinical establishment to enjoy exemption since there was no such specification in the Maharashtra State Registration,” said an officer from Maharashtra Red Cross Society.