Relief for COVID Patients: Hospitals Can Accept up to Rs 2 Lakh in Cash, Says IT Dept

New Delhi: The Income Tax (I-T) department has announced that hospitals and nursing homes can now accept cash payments of Rs. 2 lakh or more for the treatment of COVID patients till May 31, 2021, in order to provide relief amid the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The I-T department said that hospitals, nursing homes, COVID care centres, or similar other medical facilities providing treatment for COVID-19 can accept cash payment of Rs. 2 lakh or more after receiving valid identity proof such as PAN card or Aadhaar card of the patient and the payee and the relationship between the patient and the payee by such healthcare facilities. 

Income Tax India has posted on Twitter, "Granting further relief in view of severe Covid pandemic, provisions of section 269ST of Income-tax Act, 1961 relaxed by the Central Govt.

Allows Hospitals/Medical facilities etc providing Covid treatment to patients to receive cash payments of ₹ 2 lakh or more.."

The notification stated that hospitals, dispensaries, nursing homes, COVID-19 care centres, or similar other healthcare facilities providing treatment for coronavirus are being specified for the purpose of section 269ST of the Income Tax Act.

This section of the Income Tax Act restricts any person from receiving an amount of Rs. 2 lakh or more in cash, from a person in a day, in respect of a single transaction or in respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion from a person.

The I-T department has also said that the norm was introduced by the central government in 2017 as a measure to curb black money. This privilege for receiving cash payment of over Rs. 2 lakh amid COVID-19 treatment is made only for the period between April 1 and May 31, 2021.

Meanwhile, India has reported 4,187 deaths and as many as 4,01,078 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

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