MIB recommends GST relief for digital news subscriptions

The Finance Ministry will likely review goods and services tax (GST) on digital news subscriptions in its upcoming 54th GST Council meeting, which will be held on September 9.

The ministry has written to the Department of Revenue requesting that digital news subscriptions be exempt from GST or that the rate be reduced from 18% to 5%. At present, under the IGST Act, online news subscriptions are taxed at 18% as Online Information Database Access and Retrieval (OIDAR) services.

Printed newspapers, journals, and periodicals are exempted from the GST.
BCS Bureau