Health Services
Collecting VAT from patients illegal: HC
The High Court (HC) yesterday declared illegal the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on citizens for providing health services to them.
The HC also declared illegal and unconstitutional the provisions of Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 1991 for realising VAT from patients for making any prescription or doing pathological tests for treatments.
The lawyers said the patients will not have to pay VAT any more for getting health services rather physicians will have to pay VAT in this regard.
The HC bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Mohammad Momtazuddin Ahmed delivered the verdict upon a writ petition filed by three Supreme Court (SC) lawyers.
Petitioners' lawyer advo cate Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star that peoples' fundamental rights to life guaranteed by the Constitution has been established following the HC verdict.
He also said the provisions for collecting VAT from the patients had created an obstruction to their right to life.
Lawyers Zulhas Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Bari and Golam Mostafa Laskar in February this year filed the petition as public interest litigation (PIL) with the HC stating that the people are being deprived of getting treatment facilities for imposing VAT on health services.
On February 15, the HC issued a rule upon the government to explain why the rules of Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 1991 in realising Vat from the citizens against providing health services should not be declared illegal.
After hearing on the rule, the HC yesterday delivered the verdict. Deputy Attorney General Mostafa Zaman Islam stood for the government.
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