The Kerala State Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has ruled that the diagnostic centres, being part of health care services need not be registered under the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ).
The applicants are running a diagnostic centre. They claimed that the services provided by them would amount to health care services and therefore, exempted from GST. Under the GST, ‘clinical establishment’ is defined as a hospital, nursing home, eye clinic, sanatorium or any other institution by, whatever’ name called, that offers services or facilities requiring diagnosis or treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity. abnormality or pregnancy in any I recognized the system of medicines in India, or a place established as an independent entity or a part of an establishment to carry out diagnostic or investigative services of diseases.
Earlier, The authority of Advance Ruling in Karnataka had held that diagnosis, pre and post counselling, therapy and prevention of disease by providing tests are qualified to be health care services.
The authority observed that the diagnostic centres are organized facilities to provide diagnostic procedures such as radiological investigation supervised by a radiologist and clinical laboratory services by laboratory specialists usually performed through referrals from physicians and other health care facilities.
“Clinical Medical diagnostic laboratory means a laboratory with one or more of the following; where microbiological, serological, chemical, haematological, immune-haematological, immunological, toxicological, genetic, exfoliative cytogenetic, histological, pathological or other examinations are performed of materials/fluids derived from the human body for the purpose of providing ‘information on diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, or treatment of disease. These types of diagnosis or investigations rightly come under the category of health care services and are, therefore, eligible for exemption from GST,” the authority said.
“By virtue of Section 23 of State Goods and Services Tax Act, any person engaged. exclusively in the business of supplying goods or services or both, that is not liable to tax or wholly exempt from tax under GST Art, are not liable to take registration. However, such persons are liable to obtain registration if they are receiving any goods or services liable to tax under reverse charge as per notifications issued under Section 9(3) of the State Goods and Services Tax Act,” the authority added.
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