GST on dental treatment in India: what's exempt and what isn't
Most dental clinics in India charge no GST on most of their work, but not all of it. Getting the line right matters: tax charged where it shouldn't be is a complaint waiting to happen, and tax missed on taxable work is a liability for the clinic.
This is a practical overview, not tax advice. Confirm the details for your clinic with your chartered accountant.
Healthcare services are generally exempt
Health care services provided by a clinical establishment or an authorised medical practitioner are exempt from GST. For a dental clinic that covers the core of the work: consultations, X-rays, fillings, scaling, root canal treatment, extractions, crowns and bridges done to restore function, dentures, orthodontic treatment and implants.
Cosmetic work is usually taxable
The exemption does not extend to cosmetic or plastic procedures, except where they restore anatomy or function lost through disease, injury or a birth defect. In a dental clinic this typically means treatments such as teeth whitening and veneers placed only for appearance. These are usually charged GST at the standard rate for services.
Grey areas exist: a veneer after a fracture is restorative, the same veneer for a brighter smile is cosmetic. Decide with your CA how you treat each procedure, then set it once in your price list so every bill follows the same rule.
Registered or not?
A clinic that provides only exempt services does not need to register for GST. Once it also makes taxable supplies, such as whitening or medicine sales, it must register when its aggregate turnover crosses the registration threshold, and that turnover includes the exempt income too. Many small clinics with little cosmetic work stay below it. An unregistered clinic issues plain bills with no GST.
CGST and SGST, or IGST
When a registered clinic bills a taxable service, the tax is split into CGST and SGST if the patient is in the same state as the clinic's branch, and charged as IGST if the patient is from another state.
Bill of supply
A registered clinic that bills only exempt services issues a bill of supply rather than a tax invoice. If one bill has both exempt and taxable items, it is a tax invoice with GST only on the taxable lines.
Medicines from your own counter
If your clinic sells medicines over the counter, those sales carry GST at the rate that applies to each medicine. MRP is inclusive of GST, so the tax is worked out of the MRP rather than added on top.
How Cliniqe handles it
- Each item in your price list carries its own GST rate; most dental procedures start at 0%.
- Each branch can have its own GSTIN. Without one, the branch issues plain bills.
- CGST/SGST or IGST is chosen from the patient's state and the branch's state.
- A bill with only exempt items is issued as a bill of supply automatically.
- Pharmacy bills work GST out of the MRP.